Following the terrorist attack on tourists in Pahalgam, tensions have escalated between India and Pakistan. Meanwhile, Saifullah Abro, a member of Pakistan’s PTI party and a senator in the upper house of Parliament, referred to the Pahalgam incident as a scripted story during a discussion in the Senate. In his speech, he also warned Prime Minister Modi and cited statements made by opposition parties in India, such as the Aam Aadmi Party in Delhi and the Samajwadi Party in Uttar Pradesh, regarding the Pahalgam attack (here, here). Amidst this, a photo (here, here, and here) is going viral on social media, claiming to show Akhilesh Yadav with Pakistani MP Saifullah Abro. Through this article, let’s fact-check the claim made in the post.
Claim: Photo shows Akhilesh Yadav with Pakistani MP Saifullah Abro.
Fact: The person seen alongside Akhilesh Yadav in the viral photo is not Pakistani MP Saifullah Abro; he is industrialist Ashish Saraf, the Chairman and CEO of Facor Global Pte Ltd. Hence the claim made in the post is FALSE.
To verify the authenticity of the viral claim, we conducted a Google reverse image search of the photo. This search led us to the same photo, which had been uploaded to a website belonging to an individual named Ashish Saraf. The caption of the photo reads: “With Ex-CM of Uttar Pradesh, Shri Akhilesh Yadav.” The website also features several other pictures of Ashish Saraf with prominent Indian political leaders, including former President Ram Nath Kovind, Pranab Mukherjee, Prime Minister Modi, and many more.
According to the information on this website, Mr. Ashish Saraf is a global citizen. He was born in Nagpur, Central India, in 1965. Ashish Saraf is currently the Chairman and CEO of Facor Global Private Limited, an international trading firm. He was awarded the Knight of the Civil Merit Order, the highest civilian award, by King Felipe VI of Spain on 17 July 2014 for his extensive efforts in promoting bilateral business between Spain and India.
News reports featuring Ashish Saraf can be found here, here, and here. Below, you can see a comparison between the photos of Pakistani MP Saifullah Abro and industrialist Ashish Saraf.
Additionally, on 1 May 2025, the Samajwadi Party’s official media cell issued a statement on X (formerly Twitter), clarifying that the individual in the viral image is not Pakistani MP Saifullah Abro, but industrialist and financial investor Ashish Saraf.
The photo was initially posted by BJP MP Dr. Nishikant Dubey on 30 April 2025 on X. In his post, Dubey referred to Pakistani senator Saifullah Abro, a PTI member in Pakistan’s upper house, who had mentioned during a Senate discussion that opposition parties in India, including Delhi’s Aam Aadmi Party and Uttar Pradesh’s Samajwadi Party, were not supporting the Modi government while condemning the Pahalgam terror attack. Alongside this, Dubey shared a photo of Akhilesh Yadav with a caption suggesting that Pakistan was rejoicing over Yadav’s alleged anti-India remarks.
Following Dubey’s post, the photo was widely misinterpreted by social media users, who falsely claimed that the man seen with Akhilesh Yadav was Pakistani politician Saifullah Abro. On 3 May 2025, Nishikant Dubey posted a clarification regarding his original post and the viral photo.
To sum it up, the person seen alongside Akhilesh Yadav in the viral photo is industrialist Ashish Saraf, who is the Chairman and CEO of Facor Global Pte Ltd.
