India Won The War, But Lost Narrative Battle To Pakistani & Western Lies
India has decisively won the latest military conflict against Pakistan. If anybody had a doubt, the Indian Air Force (IAF) presser on Sunday conclusively demonstrated it with clear images and videos of the precision strikes in Pakistan Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (PoJK) and deep inside Pakistan.
From Muridke to Bahawalpur and from Sargodha to Jacobabad, every missile strike has been captured, as if in 4K.
It is now clear that the bombing of Sargodha and a couple of other airfields could be the immediate reason for Pakistan's panicked outreach to the US, which, in turn, advised it to directly request India for a ceasefire, which Pakistan did.
Apparently, the Indian missiles landed alarmingly close to its nuclear facilities and could even have triggered radiation.
But despite this unprecedented aggressive response to a terror attack (the Pahalgam massacre, in this case), cheer was missing from the Indian side. It was as if we had lost. Pakistan, forever blissfully in denial, actually started claiming victory. The Western media obliged, with almost congratulatory pieces and shows about Pakistan snatching a ceasefire.
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There were three main narrative setbacks for India.
First, some seriously irresponsible and childish mainstream media reporting. It is fine to run psy-ops on social media and rattle the enemy. But when the mainstream media outlets mirror that misinformation, it leads to loss of credibility and opens up the nation's information environment to damaging fact-checks and mocking, even when there is enough meat in its military response.
Sensational stories like Lahore, Karachi or Islamabad falling did just that. It is a good occasion for the Indian media to introspect. At a time when plain-vanilla reporting is sensational enough, going overboard with spice is a recipe for self-goals which harms the nation's splendid military effort.
Second, the international media coverage was grossly tilted against India. The West was especially negative.
Neocon online publication The National Interest carried pieces titled 'How Chinese Missiles Routed India's Air Force Over Pakistan' and 'Why Has India's Military Performed So Poorly Against Pakistan?', both by Brandon J Weichert, a contributor to the Hong Kong-based Asia Times and author of Biohacked: China's Race To Control Life and other books.
'The Pakistanis have proven their mettle. Armed with top Chinese equipment, and with military assistance provided by the Turks, Islamabad has shown itself to be more than capable of rebuffing at least the initial wave of Indian air attacks. The Pakistanis shot down a total of five Indian Air Force (IAF) warplanes at the start of Operation Sindoor, after all," Weichert writes.
A Reuters headline screamed: 'Exclusive: Pakistan's Chinese-made jet brought down two Indian fighter aircraft, US officials say'. 'At least two Indian jets appeared to have crashed during Pakistan strikes, visuals show', read a Washington Post headline.
Interestingly, neither Pakistan nor the unnamed US officials whom the Western media quoted could produce any proof of a single Indian plane being shot down.
Al Jazeera, the undeclared mouthpiece of Islamists worldwide, went as far as to carry the laughable Pakistani canard that Indian woman pilot Shivangi Singh has been captured.
Pakistani director general of inter-Services Public Relations Ahmed Shareef Chaudhry, who is the son of UN-designated terrorist and Osama bin Laden's close aide Bashiruddin Mahmood, later denied that Pakistan has custody of any pilot and dismissed it as 'fake news from social media". It is another matter that his boss, Pakistani defence minister Khawaja Asif, told Sky News that the proof of Pakistan downing Indian planes was 'all over social media".
But why did the international media lap up Pakistan's brazen lies and contradictions? Why was the Indian side so bleakly presented?
Is it because China wielded its influence—built through years of lobbying, buying out journalists, and funding western media and academia? Or does Pakistan and its intelligence ISI do better PR in the West than India?
Or because the West and China's planes and missile defence systems were effectively busted by India's own homegrown weapons and Russian aircraft and missile interception systems like S-400, making it a terrible advertisement to potential buyers?
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We may not know the precise answers, but it is time for India to up the PR ante, spend money on building presence in international media, and counter the global negative narrative more robustly.
Third, US President Donald Trump and Vice-President JD Vance have re-hyphenated India and Pakistan. Trump infantilised India, which is the victim of Pakistan-sponsored terror, by his statement: 'Proud that the USA was able to help you arrive at this historic and heroic decision." Claiming credit, he said on Saturday that the US mediated talks after which the two neighbours 'agreed to a FULL AND IMMEDIATE CEASEFIRE".
He then added insult by bringing up Kashmir and offering to mediate, which India had politely but firmly turned down in the past. 'I am going to increase trade, substantially, with both of these great Nations. Additionally, I will work with you both to see if, after a 'thousand years," a solution can be arrived at concerning Kashmir," read his statement.
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Could it be some ulterior reason, some kind of a negotiating chip to cut India down to size before the imminent trade deal?
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Whatever the reason, India will need to disabuse the pathological narcissist in Trump and set the narrative right.
It was never enough to win the war on the battlefield. The greatest nations and leaders have also won the war in the mind and popular imagination. Only then does one effectively break the enemy's morale and lift it for one's own people. The ceasefire has given us that moment of introspection.
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donald trump Operation Sindoor Pahalgam attack pakistan United states
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New Delhi, India, India
First Published:
May 12, 2025, 08:50 IST
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