Pakistani journalist Haider Hayat Khan on Friday trolled Indian anchor Arnab Goswami for claiming he had “detailed intelligence reports of destruction caused by Indian forces in Pakistan” during May’s military clashes between the two neighbours.

 

“I have seen the technical evidence. I get everything from national security sources… that how many radar systems, command control structures, hangars, runways, fighter jets and F-16s were destroyed,” Goswami said while furthering the Indian narrative repeatedly rejected by Pakistan on the global stage.

 

 

The claims did not sit well with Khan, who interrupted Goswami by trolling him over the credibility of the firebrand anchor’s sources. “Are these the same sources of yours who claimed Pakistanis were sitting on the fifth floor of Serene [Hotel] in Kabul?” he asked.

 

The question was in reference to Goswami’s 2021 faux pas when had claimed that Pakistani army officers were staying on the fifth floor of the luxury Serena Hotel in Kabul to support the Taliban in their fight against resistance fighters in Panjshir.

 

The anchor, who is notorious for his war-mongering and aggressive journalism that supports the interests of India’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), had been left red-faced as it emerged the Serena Hotel in Kabul only had two floors — not five.

 

“These intelligence sources reporting to your army and air chiefs must be the same as the same as the ones who reported Pakistani officials’ presence on the fifth floor of Serene in Kabul,” Khan said, leading to an unintelligible war of words between the two.

 

Khan went on to say that he had “only saved time of Goswami’s audience” by telling them the sources claiming damage to Pakistani defence structures were the same as the ones who reported that Pakistani defence personnel were present on a non-existent floor of the hotel in Kabul.

 

Both Pakistan and India maintain heavy losses on either side as a result of the military clashes that took place in May this year. Pakistan claims to have downed at least six Indian fighter jets – a claim independently verified by neutral foreign observers – whereas India claims to have inflicted heavy damage to military establishments in Pakistan.

 

New Delhi’s claims, however, have repeatedly been rejected by Islamabad as well as several other countries, in the absence of any evidence to support the same.