New Delhi: In the latest twist in a saga of claims and counter-claims, the Indian Navy has rubbished as “false propaganda” Pakistan’s assertion that it had thwarted an attempt by an Indian submarine to enter the country’s territorial waters. The Pakistan Navy even released a video of what it believes is an Indian submarine that was trying to snorkel in its maritime zone.
The veracity of the video could not be independently confirmed. It shows a submerged object, being tracked by what appears to be a thermal camera. But initial vetting seemed to suggest the video was a throwback to an incident in 2016. This is not the first time Pakistan has been slammed for allegedly using morphed or doctored videos to gain an upper hand in the battle of public perception.
Recently, Pakistan was criticised for floating an edited video just before Wing Commander Abhinandan’s release. It was deleted after there was a media backlash.”The Pakistan Navy used its specialised skills to ward off the submarine, successfully preventing it from entering its territorial waters,” a spokesperson said in Islamabad.
“The Indian submarine was not targeted in view of Pakistan’s peace initiative,” the official explained, adding that India must learn from this incident and “move towards peace”. The last time the two navies engaged in a sea battle was during the 1971 war. Indian warships were on high alert during the Kargil war in 1999 but no naval battle took place.
In Operation Trident in 1971, Indian Navy missile boats fired Soviet-origin P-15 “Termit” cruise missiles at Karachi harbour, and sank several Pakistani ships as well as hit oil tanks. The attack had severely disrupted supply lines of the neighbouring country.
