US Sutra | Operation Sindoor: Winning the narrative war

The ghastly Pahalgam terrorist attack on April 22, 2025, which left a trail of devastation in Jammu and Kashmir, is deeply etched in the psyche of every India. But so is India’s swift, decisive and on-going response, “Operation Sindoor”. Yes, once again, the India-Pakistan conflict has been brought to a perilous precipice. The spectre of an all-out war looms large, with both nations locked in a cycle of escalatory retaliation.

India is clearly gaining advantage and has the upper hand. But is the world listening? Who is winning the narrative war?

One advantage that an India-lover and commentator as far afield as the United States has over his compatriots is that while it is the dead of night in the sub-continent, it is broad daylight in America. In the ongoing India-Pakistan military action, which might soon turn into open warfare, one can monitor the minute-by-minute action as it unfolds without having to stay up, bleary-eyed, night after night.

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Indian media, both massive mainstream and the now bigger social media contingent have, by and large, offered admirable support to India’s fight. Barring the few, largely expected, fifth columnists and renegades. Yet, across the political and media spectrum and the support and enthusiasm for India’s just cause has been tremendous, I would even dare to say, unprecedented.

In contrast, when I consider how the situation is being covered in the Western press, there is no question about two glaring facts. First, the colossal ignorance that mainstream media has about India, Pakistan, and their age-old—what President Donald J. Trump even termed thousands of years old—conflict. Secondly, this ignorance is compounded by the prejudice against India and the mistaken bias and partiality for Pakistan.

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But, at long last, the entire information war may actually pivot in India’s favour.

How and why is this happening? That will require a much more detailed analysis, but two factors stand out. The superb messaging of India, with the Foreign Secretary, Vikram Misri, leading the charge, in a measured, calm, and convincing manner. But let us not overlook the two extraordinary ladies in uniform flanking him, Colonel Sofiya Qureshi and Wing Commander Vyomika Singh. All three have performed superbly for the nation, but the latter two have, undoubtedly, become household names and national heroines.

The idea is to show Pakistan, and the world, not only that we are a responsible state, with regular dispatches backed by facts, figures, and actual photographs. But also, more subtly, that to our lady officers are sufficient to taken on the Pakistani armed forces. Moreover, one of these brave officers is actually a Muslim, thus living proof that the Pakistan Army Chief Asim Munir’s bluster of the two-nation theory is punctured when it comes India’s 200 plus million Muslims.

Compare this with the clumsy, contradictory, and confusing statements of Pakistani ministers, political leaders, and unofficial spokespersons. What a mess they have made of their own misinformation and propaganda. As to the Western media, they are slowly waking up. When uniformed army officers are photographed at the funerals of slain terrorists, the cover of deniability about the connection between Pakistan’s “A” team, its armed forces, and its “B” team, the terrorist brigades, is blown to bits. Yes, the Western media is gradually turning. Thanks, in part, to some outstanding and fearless reporting by Sky News journalists like Yalda Hakim.

But there is another equally important factor. The Trump administration, which has avoided either equalizing Pakistan and India and, more importantly, refrained from interfering too much. As J D Vance put it famously, it is “none of our business.” This can only be interpreted as giving India a relatively free hand in bringing Pakistan to its knees.

Behind both these achievements is the tremendous effort put in by Dr S. Jaishankar on the diplomatic front. Fully backed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, India’s diplomatic offensive has paid rich dividends in slowly but sure turning the narrative war in India’sfavour.<

This turn is crucial. Because any actual conflict or skirmish on the ground is accompanied by a narrative war, which can be equally intense and almost as influential. I say “almost” advisedly because, in the end, the real victors and real losers emerge in the clear light of day and the spin cannot prevail forever. But for closely fought wars, like the Third Battle of Panipat in 1761, it is the dominant narrative that prevails impacts generations to come.

We were repeatedly told by the eminent academics whom Utpal Kumar derisively terms “distorians” that the Marathas lost and Ahmed Shah Abdali won. But no Islamist conqueror dared cross over the Hindukush (Hindu-killer) mountains through the Khyber Pass to invade India after that date.

This time, though, the war, if we go by the momentumand movement thus far, will not be too close to call. India is winning. If Pakistan Army Chief Asim Munirhas indeed learned a lesson from India’s resolute response, he may choose, if he is wise, to back down, allowing cooler heads within Pakistan’s military-politico-economic elite to prevail.

This would require Pakistan to scale back its support for terrorist groups like Lashkar-e-Taiba and Jaish-e-Mohammed, while maintaining the illusion of strength, though this will be increasingly difficult to maintain,for domestic consumption. Such a move could pave the way for a tacit understanding with India, where both sides agree to lower the temperature without formal concessions.

Confidence-building measures, such as increased communication through backchannels or a temporary halt to provocative military manoeuvres along the Line of Control (LoC), could follow. However, if Munir opts for adventurism—perhaps another terrorist strike or a reckless escalation along the LoC—the consequences will be dire.

Pakistan’s economy, already teetering on the brink, will collapse. If its military fails too, not just its economy, but the state of Pakistan itself, might come crashing down, adding its debris to the rubble of history. “Good riddance to bad rubbish,” some would say.

The writer is an author and columnist. Views expressed in the above piece are personal and solely those of the author. They do not necessarily reflect Firstpost’s views.