‘Why is Pakistani Journalist Writing for India?’: Bloomberg India Faces Backlash Over Article Claiming Pakistan’s “Victory” in the Indus Water Treaty Dispute

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BLOOMBERG’S new dedicated digital hub for India has come under fire over an article published on September 2, 2026, celebrating Pakistan’s “victory” over India. For the Indian readers, the more appalling detail was that the article was written by a Pakistani journalist. The author of the article titled “Pakistan Basks in Its Latest Win Over India” describes the August 31 ruling of an international court, stating that the Indus Water Treaty is still intact, and India cannot suspend it of its own accord.

The article was objectionable to many Indians as it was published under the newly launched “Bloomberg India” banner while presenting a Pakistani’s narrative of events. The journalist in focus is Tooba Masood-Khan, who is listed as a Bloomberg reporter based in Islamabad since July 2025. Her bylines for the US-based news outlet include coverage of Pakistan’s economic and political developments, including pieces on financing, bilateral ties, and domestic matters.

What is Bloomberg India?

Bloomberg, a United States-based media organization, formally launched a new branch of its operations called Bloomberg India on August 26, 2026. In an official announcement, Editor-in-Chief John Micklethwait noted that India had grown to Bloomberg’s second-largest market. He said, “Our hope is that Bloomberg India will become the place where investors and businesspeople come to get reliable independent reporting and analysis of both global markets and India’s fast-evolving economy.” 

The announcement stated that the Indian digital hub will be spearheaded by the Digital Managing Editor Tushar Banerjee and will be curated by a “dedicated digital editorial team.” It will include more than 50 journalists working in bureaus across India and is supported by the media outlet’s global newsroom of more than 3,000 reporters and analysts.

Bloomberg has maintained a presence in India for 30 years, recently expanding the company in the region with its Indian Edition newsletter, which is authored by Senior Editor Menaka Doshi. While the organization doesn’t list all members of its India team, many articles published in Bloomberg India are written by Indian-origin reporters. That is why Tooba Masood Khan’s piece celebrating Pakistan’s diplomatic “victory” over India sparked outrage online.

See Also: India reiterates Indus Waters Treaty to remain in abeyance till 'terror epicentre' Pakistan mends ways

Internet Reacts to Bloomberg’s “Anti-India” Articles

The article prompted a series of critical posts on X from Indian users. One of the responses was from Amit Kilhor, an online educator and social commentator, who posted a video on X on September 2, 2026 with the caption, “Bloomberg India has been specifically launched for anti india propaganda, they should may be check the credentials of journalists before printing them. This is not a mistake that Pakistani journalists are deployed to write articles in Bloomberg India.”

The Gurugram-based educator focussed on Bloomberg India’s launch and the authorship of the Indus newsletter, displaying screenshots of its homepage. He also unveiled the “Anti-India” headline of the article and the author’s identification linked to Islamabad. In the video, he went on to make a serious claim against the American organization, saying that “Bloomberg India was solely launched to propagate an anti-India narrative.”

Kilhor points out that the international court doesn’t have any jurisdiction over India’s internal matters. He further takes the example of another published article on the website titled “Why This River in India and Pakistan Is Causing So Much Angst,” which is an explainer on the Indus Water Treaty and India's decision to suspend it following Pahalgam terror attack. However, this article’s byline mentions three Indian authors named Ishika Mookerjee, Sonikka Loganathan, and Azman Usmani.

The second article, while describing the events of Pahalgam terror attack in April 2025, uses verbiage that does not align with the official Indian terminology. It calls the Pahalgam region of Kashmir as a “disputed region” and claims that the attack killed “mostly Indian tourists.” It is now well-reported that the Pahalgam attack was a targeted one, where the terrorist singled out male tourists and asked their names before shooting them dead. Online users highlighted how the terminology deviates from this account and propagates  “anti-India” narratives.

Reacting to Kilhor’s video other users made similar observations and expressed more shock towards the Indian authors writing for Bloomberg India. One user wrote, “When people within india spend days spreading anti-india propaganda,  outsiders become lesser of problem sadly. People within belittle themselves to new low.” Another replied, “One thing that scares me is the "enemy within" ... and those 3 journalists should scare us a lot !!”

NewsGram reached out to Bloomberg for comments but we have received no response so far.

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