Claim: Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif admitted at a trilateral summit that India launched a pre-emptive missile strike targeting Pakistan’s airbases using BrahMos missiles, thwarting a planned Pakistani offensive on May 10, 2025.
Verdict: False – There is no official record, transcript, video, or credible news source confirming PM Shehbaz Sharif made such a statement. The quote appears to be fabricated and has been widely circulated by unverified social media handles.
What Is Being Claimed?
Multiple posts on X (formerly Twitter), Facebook, and WhatsApp claim that Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif admitted during a trilateral summit in Lachin, Azerbaijan, that India’s Operation Sindoor destroyed key Pakistani airbases—Noor Khan (Rawalpindi) and Murid (Chakwal)—with BrahMos missile strikes, pre-empting a Pakistani counter-attack scheduled for 4:30 am on May 10, 2025.
The viral posts often carry this quote:
“On the night of May 9-10, we decided to respond in a measured way to Indian aggression. Our armed forces were prepared to act at 4:30 in the morning after Fajr prayers… But before that hour could arrive, India again launched a missile attack using BrahMos.”
What We Found
1. No Such Statement by PM Shehbaz Sharif
- We examined official transcripts and press releases from:
- The Prime Minister’s Office of Pakistan
- Pakistan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs
- Coverage of the Pakistan-Turkey-Azerbaijan trilateral summit
- None of these sources mention Operation Sindoor, BrahMos missiles, or any such statement by PM Sharif.
2. No Coverage in Trusted Media
- No credible Pakistani or international news outlet—including Dawn, The News, Geo News, Al Jazeera, Reuters, or BBC—has reported that PM Sharif made any admission about an Indian pre-emptive strike.
- The claim attributes the scoop to The Tribune, but no such article exists on the outlet’s official website dated May 11, 2025, or thereafter.
3. Fabricated Summit Details
- The alleged quote is said to have been made at a “Pakistan-Turkey-Azerbaijan summit in Lachin.”
- While Lachin (a contested region in Nagorno-Karabakh) is geographically tied to Azerbaijan, there is no record of such a trilateral summit being held there involving Pakistan, Turkey, and Azerbaijan in May 2025.
- Most foreign summits are widely reported by state and independent media.
4. Likely Origin: Social Media Misinformation
- The viral quote appears to have originated from an anonymous X account and was rapidly amplified by pro-India handles, but without any source or video link.
- Factcheck India fact-checkers and analysts, have flagged the claim as unverified.
The Facts Summarized
| Aspect | Verified Fact |
|---|---|
| Shehbaz Sharif’s statement | No evidence or official record of such a statement exists. |
| Summit in Lachin | No summit with Pakistan, Turkey, and Azerbaijan occurred. |
| BrahMos strikes on May 9-10 | No confirmed report from either side of operational use. |
| Indian military operation | India has not confirmed any “Operation Sindoor.” |
| Media coverage (The Tribune) | No article or link exists matching the viral claim. |
Image & Video Verification
- Reverse image search of visuals shared with the claim show unrelated photos from older military events and press conferences.
- No video of PM Shehbaz Sharif speaking the quoted lines exists online.
Conclusion
The claim that Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif admitted India launched a successful pre-emptive BrahMos missile strike under “Operation Sindoor” is false and unsubstantiated. It appears to be a piece of viral misinformation intended to shape narratives around the recent India-Pakistan tensions following the Pahalgam terror attack.