Interior Minister Talal Chaudhry speaks to reporters outside the Parliament House in Islamabad on October 9, 2025. SCREENGRAB
ISLAMABAD:
Interior Minister Talal Chaudhry revealed on Saturday that India’s intelligence service had tried to recruit a Pakistani fisherman for espionage by offering him money.
Addressing a joint press conference in Islamabad with Information and Radio 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, had been detained by the Indian Coast Guard in September and was subsequently forced and bribed with Rs95,000 to participate in anti-Pakistan propaganda.
“This is part of a continuous psychological and informational war waged by Indian intelligence agencies against Pakistan,” he said, adding that the country’s security institutions remain vigilant to counter such attempts.
Chaudhry credited Pakistan’s media and security institutions for “ensuring the triumph of truth in this information war”, praising their responsible reporting in the face of what he called “yellow propaganda”.
He drew parallels between the failed Operation Sindoor and the current propaganda campaign, describing them as repeated attempts by India to “wipe out the humiliation of past failures”.
“After failing in Operation Sindoor, and even in sports arenas, efforts have continued to create false narratives, from fabricated operations to fake encounters. But every such attempt has been exposed,” he said.
The minister added that evidence of financial transactions and communications between Indian traders and Mallah had been found. He said fake media credentials, uniforms and documents were also used to mask the operation under seemingly credible identities.
Emphasizing that Pakistan was a responsible state, he said: “Pakistan respects the sovereignty of other nations and ensures that its soil is not used against anyone. We expect the same in return”.
He called on the international community and independent media to review the evidence and recognize the operation for what it was, “a desperate attempt to build a false narrative ahead of elections and amid growing political tensions in India”.
“Like in the case of Kulbhushan Jadhav, the truth is once again for the world. India has been caught in the act,” Chaudhry added.
