Seizing the narrative

As India and Pakistan enter a state of heightened hostility, it has become evident that information warfare has come of age. The aftermath of the Pahalgam terrorist attack saw digital aggression, as claims and counter claims on social media shrouded reality and the information space turned chaotic. But, India’s narrative warfare has undergone a perceptible change since Balakot, making things tough for Pakistan this time, said an expert handling information warfare in New Delhi.

The need for an information warfare and narrative control strategy was felt after the Balakot strikes, when Pakistan’s director general of Inter Services Public Relations ran a campaign to counter Indian claims. There were concerns that the silence of the Indian forces in the crucial hours after the strikes led to a loss of critical information dominance that is quintessential to narrative control in modern warfare. So, while the operational efficiency of the forces were unquestioned, there was introspection about information warfare and the battle in the cognitive domain that largely shapes global perception around conflicts, ultimately impacting strategic outcomes as decisively as kinetic operations.

This time around, India seems to have put its act together to plug crucial gaps in the information warfare and counter narrative domain. The Indian response has not only been timely, but often complimented kinetic response. There was also seemingly far more coordination in the information warfare efforts. Synergy at the highest level was observed post the Pahalgam attack when the perpetrators in the LeT and its offshoot, The Resistance Front, were widely exposed on social media.

After Operation Sindoor, the information warfare domain kept pace with actions. The idea of two lady officers along with the foreign secretary delivering the first message was seen as a masterstroke as it was symbolic of the name of the operation. Timely clarifications by the government denied any space for misinformation. Pakistan was unable to provide reliable evidence after claiming that Indian Air Force fighters had been shot down. The Indian press brief included precise details and relevance of the targets, making it clear that the target was the terror infrastructure and incubation hubs.

The narrative on India’s social media space complemented the official statement with real time images and videos from Pakistan. Open source intelligence played a crucial role in highlighting credible information from the ground. Videos of targets hit and funerals being conducted around those locations ascertained the damage to terror infrastructure. Viral visuals of damaged targets and chaotic scenes in multiple locations amplified India’s response.

With both countries hitting the escalation matrix, the war in the information domain will become increasingly competitive in the days to come. Ultimately, in an asymmetric conflict the narrative also tries to drive the outcomes. And, India, for the time being, seems to have a firm grip on the narrative.