The culture ministry was embarrassed on Friday when social media users pointed out that one of its videos celebrating Independence Day featured Pakistan’s JF-17 Thunder combat jets in the opening segment.
The animated segment at the start of the 1.40-minute video showed two JF-17s, one on either side of a stylised symbol commemorating 70 years of the country’s independence and adorned with the Indian tricolour.
The video, which promoted an online application system for getting no-objection certificates for constructions from the National Monuments Authority, was posted on Twitter on Thursday. Eagle eyed social media users pointed out the jets in the video were Pakistani aircraft and it was removed from Twitter.
An official reaction from the culture ministry was awaited.
The JF-17 looks similar to India’s Tejas light combat aircraft. Both are single-engine jets but the Tejas does not have tailplanes while the JF-17’s air intakes are located further forward on the fuselage.
The JF-17 jet was jointly developed by Pakistan and China to replace the ageing combat aircraft of the Pakistan Air Force. Pakistan has inducted about 50 JF-17s into its air force and ordered 50 more.
China and Pakistan have also pitched the JF-17 to countries such as Sri Lanka and Malaysia though the jet is yet to find any international buyers.
This is not the first time that authorities in India and Pakistan have mistakenly featured military hardware from the other country in promotional materials.
In March 2011, an advertisement issued by the Pakistan Navy for the Aman-11 multi-national exercise prominently featured images of Indian Navy warships.
The full-page advertisement, which appeared in several Pakistani newspapers, featured the Indian Navy’s Delhi, Godavari and Talwar-class warships.
In January 2010, an Indian government advertisement featured former Pakistan Air Force chief Tanvir Mahmood Ahmed alongside Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and cricketer Kapil Dev.
Courtesy Hindustan Times
