Pakistan’s Information Warfare: Strategic Implications and India’s Response

In an era where perception often trumps reality, information has emerged as a decisive vector of strategic influence. The battlefield is no longer confined to physical terrain; it now extends deep into digital spheres, algorithmic influence, and ultimately, hearts and minds. A stark example of this manipulation is visible in Pakistani school history textbooks that describe fictional military victories over India, including an imagined clash in May 2025.

Information Warfare (IW), once a peripheral component of military doctrine, now occupies center stage in shaping state narratives, international legitimacy, and domestic political cohesion. Contemporary statecraft is frequently analyzed through the Diplomacy, Information, Military, and Economic (DIME) framework. While the Military and Economic elements traditionally enjoyed prominence, in today’s digitally interconnected age, Information has become the element that binds, amplifies, or undermines all others.

Unlike conventional warfare, Information Warfare doesn’t seek territorial gains. Instead, it aims to erode societal cohesion in adversary nations, manipulate public opinion, and delegitimize state institutions. This shift represents a fundamental change in how conflicts are fought and won in the 21st century.

Pakistan has elevated information warfare to a pillar of state policy, particularly following India’s 2019 Balakot air strikes in response to the Pulwama terrorist attack. Institutions like the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) and Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) coordinate long-term perception campaigns across multiple platforms, leveraging social media disinformation and psychological operations.

India, by contrast, has historically under-prioritized information warfare, treating it more as a reactive media strategy than a proactive instrument of statecraft. Only recently, especially after confrontations with Pakistan and China, have Indian defense and policy establishments begun recognizing the urgency of developing a comprehensive IW doctrine.

This strategic asymmetry presents a critical vulnerability for India. While Pakistan maintains a constant presence in the perception battle-space with coherent messaging, India’s approach remains largely fragmented and reactive, often falling short in the volatile realm of global public opinion.

Pakistan’s Information Operations: A De Facto Instrument of State Policy

From its inception in 1947, Pakistan has weaponized information as a state policy instrument, targeting India through a sustained propaganda ecosystem. Centered on portraying Kashmir as the “unfinished business of Partition,” this ideological framework justifies persistent anti-India messaging through various communication channels.

Despite a 1948 agreement between both countries to avoid hostile propaganda, Pakistan has consistently violated this commitment. Radio Pakistan quickly evolved into a propaganda powerhouse with dual objectives: promoting Urdu as a national unifier and propagating an Islamic identity aligned with Pakistan’s ideological self-definition.

During the 1947-49 Kashmir conflict, Radio Pakistan broadcasts included coded signals between songs to guide infiltrators. Over time, this model expanded to include Radio Azad Kashmir and additional stations broadcasting emotionally charged religious content specifically designed to forge psychological connections with Muslim communities across the Line of Control.

Several factors made Jammu and Kashmir particularly vulnerable to Pakistani information operations:

• Weak Indian transmission infrastructure in border districts
• Cultural proximity and shared dialects exploited to build trust
• Limited All India Radio programming hours compared to Pakistan’s 24/7 transmissions

This propaganda intensified under General Zia-ul-Haq’s rule from 1977-1988, with Operation Topac formalizing psychological warfare against India. Religious militancy was legitimized through radio broadcasts instructing Kashmiris to disregard Indian announcements and follow Pakistani religious guidance instead.

The digital age has further empowered Pakistan’s information warfare capabilities. Following incidents like the Pulwama attack and Balakot strike, Pakistan deployed AI-generated content, bot networks, and coordinated hashtag campaigns to amplify anti-India narratives. These increasingly target Indian Muslims to exacerbate internal divisions.

The ISPR functions as Pakistan’s central narrative warfare command, training cyber volunteers, funding propaganda content, and engaging diaspora media in strategic locations like the Gulf states and United Kingdom. FM stations operating near the Line of Control broadcast a calculated mix of religious messaging alongside Bollywood entertainment to attract Indian listeners while subtly normalizing Pakistani ideological narratives.

Digital Jihad and Narrative Wars

Pakistan’s shift to “digital jihad” marks an evolution from analog propaganda to digitally synchronized narrative warfare. This transformation, led primarily by the ISPR, has enabled Pakistan to institutionalize social media weaponization through coordinated campaigns.

Pakistani media outlets and bot-driven troll farms regularly circulate manipulated visuals for anti-India propaganda, with support from diaspora influencers, Chinese social media accounts, and sympathetic international media like Turkey’s TRT World and Qatar’s Al Jazeera.

A revealing example occurred following a terrorist attack in Pahalgam in April 2025. Within hours of the incident, Pakistani-affiliated social media accounts flooded platforms with hashtags like #IndianFalseFlag and #PahalgamDramaExposed, suggesting the Indian government had orchestrated the attack. Within 16 hours, nearly 14,000 posts under these hashtags were trending globally, with 75 percent originating from Pakistan.

Deepfake videos featuring fabricated confessions by Indian officials soon appeared, created using AI facial mimicry and voice synthesis tools. Open-source intelligence groups traced these materials to Pakistan-linked AI labs. The narratives were amplified by coordinated botnets operating from Pakistan, Nepal, China, and Gulf nations, using techniques similar to Russian and Iranian disinformation playbooks.

Deflecting Attention from Pakistan’s Domestic Crisis

Pakistan’s information warfare against India serves not only antagonistic purposes but also helps deflect attention from Pakistan’s severe domestic challenges. Recent statistics from Pakistan’s own government reveal alarming socioeconomic conditions: over 22.8 million children out of school, 6.3 percent national unemployment, and more than 10 million people lacking safe drinking water. The Global Hunger Index 2024 ranked Pakistan 109 out of 127 countries.

In this environment, ISPR’s disinformation campaigns support internal pacification through manufactured victory narratives. Following military operations, state-sponsored billboards and street propaganda declare “Victory in Kashmir” or “India Defeated” across major Pakistani cities. Senior army officials conduct coordinated visits to universities and colleges to deliver celebratory lectures, while the government suppresses independent reporting that contradicts these narratives.

Pakistan’s digital jihad thus serves a dual purpose: as an offensive tactic against India and a defensive necessity to preserve internal cohesion amid inflation, corruption, and governance failures. By creating the illusion of external threats and internal strength, the military maintains its position as Pakistan’s sole credible institution in the public consciousness.

Strategic Recommendations for India

To counter Pakistan’s information warfare, India should:

1. Develop a national IW doctrine and structure under the Ministries of Defence and External Affairs, with clear roles and standard operating procedures

2. Adopt a “woodpecker strategy” of consistently highlighting Pakistani violations and reinforcing India’s legitimacy in Kashmir

3. Create an Army Liaison Cell to synchronize defense narratives and provide institutional continuity

4. Empower the Indian diaspora as “narrative mascots” to counter propaganda in host countries through media and political engagement

5. Reopen military-cultural links with Indian civil society through documentaries and public events to bridge perception gaps

6. Create a veteran-led counter-disinformation campaign utilizing retired personnel from diverse linguistic backgrounds

7. Establish a Wikipedia Defence Desk to deploy fact-based, globally sourced edits countering anti-India misinformation

8. Expand FM radio broadcasting along border areas with regional-language content targeted at local communities

9. Consolidate support for Pakistani minorities by highlighting human rights violations

10. Build on moments of national unity to develop religious-cultural counter-narratives challenging Pakistan’s portrayal of India as internally divided

11. Establish a National Strategic Communications Agency under the Prime Minister’s Office for coordinated narrative management

12. Monitor and counter disinformation through AI-based threat detection tools

13. Form international coalitions with democracies facing similar challenges to share expertise

Conclusion

A key reason for ISPR’s effectiveness lies in its unified command over Pakistan’s strategic messaging. It acts as a single narrative voice, synchronizing military positions with political messaging, cultural productions, and digital propaganda. Whether through press conferences, anthems, university lectures, or social media content, the messaging remains consistent and emotionally resonant.

By contrast, India’s information environment is pluralistic and decentralized—a natural outcome of democratic governance but often a liability in perception warfare. Multiple actors compete to shape narratives without strategic coordination, resulting in fragmented messaging and delayed responses.

Ironically, while ISPR dominates external narratives about India, it faces competition internally from Pakistani politicians, religious leaders, and civil society. This internal divergence makes domestic cohesion harder to maintain, necessitating constant propaganda reinforcement.

India must urgently institutionalize information warfare as a core component of national security. A comprehensive response spanning military narrative centers, diaspora engagement, and AI-powered monitoring is essential. Cultural and linguistic diversity must be leveraged to create authentic counter-narratives across India’s vast demographic landscape.

In an age of digital influence, victory is determined not just on the battlefield but in the minds of citizens and the timelines of global perception. India must prepare accordingly with clarity, unity, and strategic foresight.