KARACHI: India deliberately fired “projectiles” in its Punjab province and blamed Islamabad to prepare grounds for retaliatory attacks, Pakistan’s foreign minister said on Thursday.

In a press conference, Ishaq Dar said India “deliberately fired” projectiles, three of which were dropped in Amritsar, the capital of Indian Punjab, located around 54km from Lahore.

He added that a fourth projectile entered Pakistani airspace, which was shot down by the air defense system in Dinga, Gujrat, around 87km from the nearest point on the India-Pakistan border.

Mr Dar’s remarks were in response to claims by New Delhi that it neutralised attempts by Pakistan to hit multiple “military targets” using “drones and missiles” on the night of Wednesday and Thursday.

Mr Dar added that India’s “deliberate” attack was a “malicious strategy” to “falsely implicate Pakistan” for targeting civilians and incite Indian Sikhs.

Sitting beside Mr Dar, the armed forces spokesperson also accused India of launching a false flag operation.

ISPR Director General Lt Gen Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry shared details about the projectiles, which he claimed were launched by India the previous night.

He claimed India fired four projectiles from Adampur, a town in Jalan­dhar district of Indian Punjab. Three projectiles were “intently targeted” at Amritsar while one was taken down over Dinga, Lt-Gen Chaudhry added.

He said India’s claim that Pakistan attacked 15 locations was a “fantastic and cooked-up story”.

Every projectile leaves a digital signature, Lt-Gen Chaudhry said, asking India to share details about the origin of the projectiles it claimed were launched by Pakistan.

The military spokesperson also lambasted the Indian media for falsely accusing Pakistan of launching attacks.

“When Pakistan strikes, we won’t need the Indian media to report it. The whole world will come to know. Its reverberations will be felt everywhere.”

Published in Dawn, May 9th, 2025