Fact-Check: Did Pakistan PM Shehbaz Sharif Admit India Pre-Empted Pakistan’s Strike with BrahMos Missiles?

ByFactcheck India

May 30, 2025 #BrahMos Missiles, #disinformation, #Fact Check India, #Factcheck_in, #FactCheckIndia, #Fake news, #fakecheck, #India, #misinformation, #Pakistan, #PM Shehbaz Sharif, #social media,#TruthXIndia

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

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.