NEW DELHI: India has launched a highly dangerous, systematic and extensive “information warfare” against Pakistan, along with the conventional military arena, for which a coordinated network has been established by combining government communication agencies, intelligence agencies, ideological think tanks and fake media houses.
The central axis and command center of this hybrid warfare and psychological warfare is the Directorate of Public Relations (DPR) of the Indian Ministry of Defense, which is ostensibly just a PR wing but has in fact become the largest factory of anti-Pakistan propaganda and perception management on a global scale.
This organization, based in New Delhi, is headed by the Additional Director General (Strategic Communication), who is also the primary spokesperson for the Indian forces. This organization works through its 25 regional offices across India and special units dedicated to the Army, Navy and Air Force. Shockingly, this network has over 10,000 employees, including digital media experts, data analysts, psychological warfare analysts and intelligence support staff, who work day and night to create narratives and disseminate them globally.
According to the report, India’s investment in this information war is mind-boggling. The open budget of the DPR is about 2,882 crore Indian rupees ($305 million), but 6,615 crore rupees ($700 million) are provided through various secret sources for covert operations against Pakistan and other neighbouring countries. When combined with the budgets of defense think tanks, this amount comes to 9,558 crore Indian rupees (about 1.01 billion US dollars) annually. This huge amount is being spent like water only to create a false fear of India’s military power at the global and local levels and to tarnish Pakistan’s image.
The modus operandi of this network is extremely clever. India’s largest external intelligence agency “RAW” collects information and prepares a rough sketch by examining Pakistan’s weaknesses. This sensitive data is transferred to the DPR where experts give it the form of public language and news. As soon as a narrative is issued from the DPR, it is given academic credentials by so-called independent think tanks like IDSA and CLAWS and then Indian national TV channels, digital portals, retired army officers and social media influencers start singing the same tune simultaneously, which suppresses the truth and creates a one-sided environment based on lies.
This entire infrastructure operates on the toxic policy of “narrative first, evidence later”. Be it the Pulwama and Balakot dramas of 2019, the abrogation of Article 370 in occupied Kashmir, the farmers’ movement, or recent incidents like the Jaffer Express and Pahalgam; India has mobilized this network to try to shift the blame onto Pakistan even before any transparent or independent investigation. The aim was to isolate Pakistan diplomatically and increase psychological pressure to blacklist it in financial institutions (like FATF).
Defence experts say that India is now relying more on this hybrid and fifth generation warfare than on conventional weapons.
