Pakistan has a habit of declaring victory over India even when nothing of the sort has happened. In the past, the country has made strange claims — from celebrating after losing cricket matches to pushing edited images and video-game clips as evidence of military success.

This time, they tried to present an Oxford Union debate as another triumph. They said India “walked out,” even though the Indian side didn’t attend because they were told the Pakistani speakers had not reached the venue.

The Pakistani High Commission in London posted a long statement on X, announcing that the Indian delegation — which was supposed to take part in a “high-profile” Oxford Union debate on 27 November — withdrew at the last minute. According to their version, this supposedly gave Pakistan an uncomplicated and automatic victory.

The debate was planned in a parliamentary style format on the motion:
“This House Believes That India’s Policy Towards Pakistan Is a Populist Strategy Sold as Security Policy”.

Pakistan said their representatives were General (Retd) Zubair Mahmood Hayat, former Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee; Hina Rabbani Khar, former Foreign Minister; and Mohammad Faisal, Pakistan’s High Commissioner to the UK.

They also claimed the Indian team would have consisted of General M. M. Naravane, Dr Subramanian Swamy, and Sachin Pilot.

According to the Pakistani High Commission, all of Pakistan’s speakers had already reached London and were supposed to travel to Oxford on the day of the debate. Their statement added:
“Earlier this morning, however, the Oxford Union informed the organizers that all three Indian speakers had decided to pull out, offering no substantive explanation for their inability to attend a debate they had previously confirmed.”

Pakistan went further, saying this situation had embarrassed the Oxford Union. They claimed that India’s absence showed “a lack of confidence on the part of the Indian delegation in defending India’s Pakistan policy in an open, rules based forum.” They proudly added that their delegation had arrived “fully prepared” with facts, legal arguments, and information about regional stability.

The High Commission also alleged that after India supposedly withdrew, it proposed “obscure and low-profile replacements,” and declared that these names “did not match the level of the Pakistani delegation and undermined the credibility and balance of the debate.” They finally concluded that “The collective retreat of the Indian delegation amounted to an unchallenged victory for Pakistan.”

Pakistani media echoed this version loudly, presenting it as if India was afraid to debate and had backed out on purpose.

But the next day, Supreme Court lawyer J. Sai Deepak publicly exposed the truth. He explained in detail how the Indian team had been misled by the Oxford Union leadership with false information about the Pakistani side’s whereabouts. This deliberate confusion led to the Indian side believing the debate would not take place.

Sai Deepak clarified that the actual Indian speakers scheduled from the beginning were himself, Dr Subramanian Swamy, and General Naravane. This means that Pakistan’s mention of Sachin Pilot was incorrect.

He posted screenshots of emails from Moosa Harraj, the Oxford Union President, confirming his participation. Harraj is the son of Muhammad Raza Hayat Harraj, who serves as Pakistan’s Minister of Defence Production — a fact that becomes important later.

Two days before the debate, the Oxford Union informed Sai that Dr Swamy and General Naravane wouldn’t be able to attend. They asked him to suggest alternative names. Before Sai could finalize anyone, they called again and told him that Suhel Seth and Priyanka Chaturvedi would join instead, and that both had confirmed participation.

However, on 26 November — just one day before the event — the Oxford Union contacted Sai again, saying that Seth and Chaturvedi were now unable to attend due to the short notice. They asked him once more to propose replacements from the UK so that travel would not be an issue. Sai then helped finalize two London-based speakers — Pt Satish K. Sharma and Manu Khajuria — who agreed to take part.

With everything finally sorted, Sai Deepak flew to London on the morning of 27 November. He even attended his Supreme Court hearings virtually from there. But at 3:13 PM, just three hours before the debate, he received another call from the Oxford Union. This time, they told him that the Pakistani delegation had not landed in London at all.

Naturally frustrated by this back-and-forth, Sai expressed his disappointment with how poorly everything was handled. Since they were told the Pakistani team had not arrived, the Indian team decided there was no point in going to Oxford. Sai wrote to the Union President, Moosa Harraj, who replied with an apology and claimed he had been informed the previous morning that Pakistan’s speakers would not come.

But this, too, turned out to be untrue.

It later emerged that the Pakistani delegation had already reached the UK and was staying at the George Street Hotel in Oxford — the exact same hotel booked for Sai Deepak by the Union. The Pakistani speakers attended the event, and since the Indian speakers did not appear (because they were told Pakistan wasn’t there), the Union declared Pakistan the winner without a debate.

Satish K. Sharma, one of the planned Indian representatives, confirmed this series of events. He said they were still on their way when the Oxford Union abruptly “pulled the plug.”

He posted the following on X:
“The prospect of a legal mind such as @jsaideepak, a real J n K Hindu human rights expert in our @KhajuriaManu, and myself a Dharmic Scholar versed in the true Partition story, was clearly too daunting a prospect. They came, they screamed, they fled, without even a verbal volley across the bows.”

Sai Deepak also posted his own strong reaction, writing:
“if the Pakistani team is still at Oxford, they should find the courage to debate us on the topic instead of doing an Operation Manhoos ki phati hui Baniyan where their Defense Minister couldn’t even produce evidence of their so-called success.”

He asked why the Pakistani team was hiding “like their terrorists,” instead of facing the Indian speakers in an open and live debate.

Sai then addressed Oxford University itself, saying the institution had allowed the Union President and his group to pull the entire event into disrepute. He wrote that:
“You have allowed the Oxford Union to become a concubinal mouthpiece of Pakistan, perhaps reflecting the general state of affairs.”

In the end, the whole story shows very clearly that the Indian side did not withdraw by choice. Instead, they were repeatedly misinformed — and misled — into believing the Pakistani side had not reached the venue. In reality, the Pakistani delegation was already in Oxford, staying in the hotel booked by the Union.

Because of this manipulation, Pakistan was declared the winner due to India’s absence. And the High Commission’s claim that India “backed out” is completely false.