The most recent conflict in the longstanding tensions between India and Pakistan may not have directly involved its neighbor, China. Nonetheless, Beijing’s influence looms large.

China made a critical difference in the latest India-Pakistan conflict, says Imtiaz Gul, a Pakistani security analyst. "It took the Indian planners by sheer surprise. They didn't probably envision the depth of co-operation in the modern warfare between Pakistan and China," he said.

A video of a transgender woman being dragged to a car and beaten has resurfaced in posts falsely claiming it shows a Pakistani woman being attacked for demanding proof of strikes on India. The clip circulated in a news report weeks before nuclear-armed neighbours India and Pakistan traded tit-for-tat missile and artillery strikes in the worst violence between the rivals in decades.