Minister of State for Interior Talal Chaudhry speaks to reporters outside Parliament in Islamabad on October 9, 2025.
ISLAMABAD:
Minister of State for Interior Talal Chaudhry revealed on Saturday that Indian intelligence services attempted to recruit a Pakistani fisherman for espionage purposes by offering him money.
Addressing a joint press conference in Islamabad alongside Information and Broadcasting Minister Attaullah Tarar, Chaudhry said the incident was “India’s new propaganda operation, which has now been fully exposed.”
He said the fisherman, identified as Ijaz Mallah, was arrested by the Indian Coast Guard in September and was later coerced and bribed with 95,000 rupees to participate in anti-Pakistan propaganda.
“This is part of an ongoing psychological and informational war being waged by Indian intelligence agencies against Pakistan,” he said, adding that the country’s security institutions remain vigilant to counter such attempts.
Chaudhry praised Pakistan’s media and security institutions for “ensuring the triumph of truth in this information war”, and praised their responsible reporting in the face of what he called “yellow propaganda”.
He drew parallels between the failure of Operation Sindoor and the current propaganda campaign, describing them as India’s repeated attempts to “erase the humiliation of past failures”.
“After the failure of Operation Sindoor, and even in sporting arenas, efforts continued to create false narratives, from fabricated operations to fake encounters. But each of these attempts has been exposed,” he said.
The minister added that evidence of financial transactions and communications between Indian managers and Mallah had been found. He added that fake media credentials, uniforms and documents were also used to mask the operation under seemingly credible identities.
He stressed that Pakistan was a responsible state, saying: “Pakistan respects the sovereignty of other nations and ensures that its soil is not used against anyone. We expect the same in return.”
He urged the international community and independent media to examine the evidence and recognize the operation for what it was, “a desperate attempt to construct a false narrative ahead of the elections and amid growing political tensions in India.”
“Just like in the case of Kulbhushan Jadhav, the truth is once again before the world. India has been caught red-handed,” Chaudhry added.
