Introduction
In the wake of the Pahalgam massacre, India
launched Operation Sindoor, a swift and multifaceted response aimed at
punishing the perpetrators and deterring future cross-border terrorist actions.
While the military operations unfolded with precision on the ground, another
war was simultaneously being waged in the digital and psychological domains—an
information war. Pakistan, with active technical and strategic support
from China, unleashed an aggressive disinformation and
perception-management campaign to undermine India's actions. India, for its
part, mounted a coordinated counter-offensive to mitigate and neutralize the
impact of these psychological operations.
This article analyses the nature, objectives,
and tools of the Pak-China information warfare during Operation Sindoor,
and assesses India’s counter-disinformation strategy in response.
1.
Objectives of Pakistan's Information Warfare
Pakistan’s information operations during
Operation Sindoor were not merely reactive but pre-planned, aimed at
achieving several objectives:
- Delegitimizing India's Military Action: Labeling Operation Sindoor as disproportionate or targeting
civilians.
- Internationalizing Kashmir:
Painting the conflict as a humanitarian crisis deserving global
intervention.
- Inciting Domestic Unrest in India:
Using communal narratives to spark unrest in sensitive regions, especially
in Jammu & Kashmir and Punjab.
- Demoralizing the Indian Population and Security Forces: Circulating fake news of Indian casualties, defections, or
military failures.
- Undermining India’s Global Image:
Associating India with human rights violations and war crimes.
2. China’s
Role: A Silent Catalyst
China played a strategic enabler’s role
in Pakistan’s disinformation campaign. While not overtly involved in propaganda
against India, its contributions came in the form of:
- Technology Transfer:
Facilitating AI-enabled deepfake tools, automated bots, and social media
amplification technologies.
- Training and Doctrine:
Sharing expertise on "Three Warfares" (Psychological, Media, and
Legal) to guide Pakistani planners.
- Cyberspace Infrastructure:
Hosting or supporting disinformation portals and news aggregators
operating from offshore locations (e.g., Turkey, Malaysia, and Eastern
Europe).
- Joint Information Campaigns:
Aligning anti-India narratives in Chinese state media to amplify Pakistani
propaganda, particularly in the Global South.
3. Tools
and Techniques Used by Pakistan
A. Fake
News and Deepfakes
Doctored videos allegedly showing Indian Army
atrocities circulated across WhatsApp, Telegram, and Instagram in multiple
languages, including Arabic, Bengali, and English. Deepfakes of Indian generals
"confessing" to excesses were used to sow confusion.
B. Bot
Armies and Hashtag Wars
Tens of thousands of automated bots,
often coordinated from Pakistani intelligence-linked IT farms, flooded
platforms like X (formerly Twitter), Facebook, and YouTube. Hashtags like #FreeKashmir,
#SindoorGenocide, and #IndianTerrorism trended with artificial
engagement.
C. Proxy
Influencers
Islamist influencers, ex-UN officials, Western
left-wing journalists, and select South Asian diaspora figures were co-opted to
give legitimacy to Pakistani narratives.
D. Misuse
of International Institutions
Pakistan attempted to manipulate UN platforms
and human rights watchdogs by submitting fabricated dossiers, images
from unrelated conflicts (like Gaza and Syria), and engineered testimonies.
4. India's
Counter-Information Warfare Strategy
India, having learned from previous
experiences in Balakot and Galwan, had a multi-tiered response
mechanism in place for Operation Sindoor.
A.
Strategic Communications Cell (SCC) Activation
A war-room consisting of officers from the
Indian Army's Information Warfare Division, MEA, MHA, and cybersecurity experts
was activated to coordinate messaging, crisis response, and media outreach.
B. Rapid
Fact-Checking and Debunking
India launched real-time debunking
operations via PIB Fact Check, MyGov, and affiliated independent
fact-checkers. Every viral fake image or video was dissected and exposed with
geolocation, metadata, and expert testimony.
C.
Offensive Narratives
India also projected its own narratives of
righteous retaliation, victims of the Pahalgam massacre, and proof of
terror camps inside Pakistan. Leaks of intercepted Pakistani military
communications were strategically released.
D.
Diplomacy and Information Fusion
The MEA proactively briefed global capitals,
embassies, and international media to pre-empt Pakistani lies. Select
war correspondents and influencers were embedded in frontline units for
transparency.
E. Legal
Warfare
India exposed Pakistan’s misuse of global
forums and lodged formal complaints against propaganda websites, forcing some
to be taken down by domain registrars and tech platforms under
anti-disinformation clauses.
5.
Challenges Faced by India
Despite its preparedness, India faced key
difficulties:
- Speed of Viral Content:
Disinformation often reached millions before India could counter it.
- Bias in Global Media:
Western liberal media sometimes echoed Pakistani claims without proper
verification.
- Internal Amplifiers: Some
Indian influencers, driven by ideology or ignorance, unwittingly shared
Pakistan-generated content.
- Cyber Intrusions:
Attempts were made to hack media portals and impersonate government
websites to push fake content.
6. Lessons
for the Future
- Creation of a National Information Warfare Doctrine integrating civilian agencies, armed forces, and academia.
- Investment in AI-driven counter-disinformation platforms with multilingual capabilities.
- Pre-emptive PsyOps to
dominate the information domain before kinetic operations begin.
- Media Literacy Campaigns to
educate the public about fake news and narrative manipulation.
- International Coalition-Building with
like-minded democracies to counter authoritarian disinformation
ecosystems.
Conclusion
Operation Sindoor demonstrated that modern
warfare is no longer confined to battlefields. Information is now both a
weapon and a battleground. Pakistan, with China’s backing, attempted to seize
the narrative space, but India's coordinated civil-military response managed to
contain much of the damage.
In future conflicts, information warfare will
only grow in intensity and sophistication. India must continue to evolve,
invest, and prepare for this new era of digital battlespaces, where
perception often precedes reality.
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