Amid the ongoing tensions between India & China at the eastern sector of Ladakh border, fake news was circulated on social media by a handle which appeared to be operated by a Chinese user. The rumour-monger stated that the Sukhoi Su-30 fighter jet of the Indian Air Force (IAF) was shot down by China's People Liberation Army (PLA). A tweet was posted by a user going by the name of Zhong Xin (@ZhingXN), claiming that Su-30 jet of IAF had flown over Tibet region, and was shot down by the Air Force of PLA. "Breaking News: Our Air force has shutdown Indian fighter jet Sukhoi su–30 in Tibet (sic)," his tweet posted on October 3 read. Press Information Bureau (PIB), the Indian government's official media arm, debunked the fake news. The fact-check handle of PIB on Twitter informed netizens that the tweet posted Zhong Xin and shared by several microbloggers is absolutely untrue. "The claim is #FAKE. No such incident has taken place (sic),” the PIB Fact Check handle tweeted. Further, it should be noted that no international media outlet or the Chinese media had reported any such incident. Therefore, the claim being made by Zhong Xin should be considered as completely fake news.
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