Pakistan Appeals for Loans, Denies Posting Viral Tweet on X

Pakistan’s Economic Affairs Ministry on Friday said its official X (formerly Twitter) account had been compromised after a post appealing for global financial support and calling for de-escalation with India gained traction online.

A statement given to Reuters confirmed the ministry had not issued the post, which requested international partners to provide loans and support efforts to reduce tensions with India. “We did not tweet that,” the ministry said. “We are working to disable the account.”

The controversial message surfaced weeks after a deadly April 22 terror attack in Pahalgam, Jammu and Kashmir, that left 26 people dead, most of them male tourists. The post remained live on the ministry’s X handle at the time of filing this report.

Tensions along the India-Pakistan border have sharply risen in recent days following India’s cross-border military action. The Indian Armed Forces on Wednesday struck multiple terror hubs in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK), as part of Operation Sindoor.

Targets included known strongholds of Jaish-e-Mohammad in Bahawalpur and Lashkar-e-Taiba in Muridke, according to military sources.

These retaliatory strikes came after New Delhi blamed Pakistan-based groups for orchestrating the Pahalgam attack.

On Thursday evening, Pakistan launched a coordinated aerial assault using drones and missiles targeting several Indian border states. Locations in Jammu and Kashmir, Punjab, and Rajasthan experienced overnight disruptions, including blackouts in cities like Jammu, Udhampur, Gurdaspur, and Chandigarh.

India’s Defence Ministry later confirmed that Pakistan attempted to strike at least 15 strategic Indian sites including Awantipura, Srinagar, Jammu, Pathankot, Amritsar, Kapurthala, Jalandhar, Ludhiana, Adampur, Bathinda, Chandigarh, Nal, Phalodi, Uttarlai, and Bhuj.

In retaliation, India launched kamikaze drone strikes, destroying a Pakistani air defence unit in Lahore, the ministry said.

For the first time, the Indian Army released verified visuals showing the destruction of a Pakistani military post along the Line of Control (LoC). The Army also reported successfully neutralizing Pakistani drone and missile threats during overnight operations in the western theatre.

Indian officials described the counterattacks as part of a focused response under Operation Sindoor, stating that they were limited to terror-related infrastructure and did not target civilian areas.

India’s Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri said that New Delhi’s military actions were targeted and proportionate. He emphasized that the strikes were intended to dismantle terror networks operating across the border. Misri reiterated that India’s efforts were precise and intended to avoid civilian harm.

However, Indian sources reported that 16 civilians died in the Poonch region and nearby areas due to Pakistani strikes. Indian military intelligence has claimed that over 100 militants were eliminated during Operation Sindoor.