Paris: The French Navy has strongly criticised a Pakistan-based media outlet for spreading “misinformation and disinformation” regarding India’s Operation Sindoor, carried out against Pakistan-sponsored terrorist sites following the Pahalgam terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir in April that claimed 26 civilian lives.

The clarification followed the publication of an article by Islamabad-based Geo TV on November 21, which claimed that a French naval commander had confirmed Pakistan’s air superiority and asserted that Indian Rafale jets were shot down during recent border skirmishes.

Dismissing the report, the French Navy said the outlet not only misquoted French officers but even got the officer’s name wrong — referring to him as “Jacques Launay” instead of his actual name, Captain Yvan Launay.

In a statement released on its official X account, the Marine Nationale said all remarks attributed to Captain Launay were fabricated. “These statements were attributed to Captain Launay, who never gave his consent for any form of publication. The article contains extensive misinformation and disinformation,” the statement said.

The disputed Geo TV article sensationally claimed that a French commander had told an Indo-Pacific conference that the Pakistan Air Force performed “much better” during the May 6–7 confrontation involving more than 140 fighter jets. It also alleged that he confirmed Indian Rafales were shot down and linked the purported outcome to Chinese support — all of which, the French Navy said, was false.

According to the Navy, Captain Launay’s actual role is confined to commanding the naval air station at Landivisiau, where Rafale Marine aircraft are based, contrary to Pakistani media portrayals of him as a senior operational authority involved in the India–Pakistan conflict. The Navy added that his presentation at the conference was purely technical, focusing on the missions of the Rafale Marine, the carrier strike group concept, and the general challenges faced by pilots in high-intensity air combat.

France further clarified that when asked about Operation Sindoor, Captain Launay neither confirmed nor denied any claims about losses and declined to comment on allegations of Chinese jamming of Indian aircraft. The Navy stressed that he “never mentioned the Chinese J-10,” contradicting what the Pakistani outlet had reported.

Geo TV had also quoted him as saying that Rafale’s radar malfunction was “operational rather than technical” and that the jet “can compete with and defeat the Chinese J-10C in any combat situation.” The French Navy categorically rejected this, reiterating that “he never mentioned the Chinese J-10,” and dismissed the claims as baseless fabrications circulated by the Pakistani media.

With inputs from ANI