India, Pakistan compete to sell their feuding narratives abroad. Will this work?

Straits Times

28-05-2025

Pakistan's Rangers stand guard at the Kartarpur Sahib Corridor complex, which runs along the India-Pakistan border in Kartarpur, on May 22. PHOTO: AFP
- Military action between India and Pakistan might have stopped for now, but the feuding South Asian neighbours are ramping up a war of words.
Both governments are sending teams to key partners including Singapore to press their cases and shape global perceptions on the latest flashpoint that sparked fears of an open conflict between the two nuclear-armed countries.
India's campaign, in particular, is notable for both its scale and its non-partisan nature. Seven delegations are fanning across the world to places from Belgium, Germany and the United States; to Bahrain, Guyana and Panama. In total, around 59 retired diplomats, ruling and opposition politicians are travelling to 33 countries.
New Delhi and Islamabad agreed to a ceasefire on May 10 , after four days of a tit-for-tat military confrontation. India had accused Pakistan of being involved in the April 22 'terror attack' that killed 26 civilians in Pahalgam in Indian-held Kashmir - something Pakistan denied.
India's latest effort, say analysts, is aimed at getting international buy-in from friendly countries for how it approaches what it says is state-sponsored terrorism emanating from Pakistan, to diplomatically isolate its neighbour, and to amplify New Delhi's message that it had little choice but to strike due to the attack; that it was well within its rights to do so.
'The parliamentary delegations will make the world aware that India will consider future terrorist attacks as an act of war and will take retaliatory action,' said Mr Anil Wadhwa, a retired Indian diplomat.
The delegations are also striving to plug gaps in India's messaging amid domestic criticism that it has not articulated its position effectively.
'There is a sense that India's narrative has not fully got across globally. So there is a need to explain to India's friends and key partners,' Professor C Raja Mohan, a visiting research professor at Singapore's Institute of South Asian Studies, told The Straits Times.
He added: 'After nearly a decade of toxic and intense polarisation, this seems to be an effort to bring opposition parties together. Even those who are critical of the government have joined these delegations.'
The delegation to Singapore, which arrived on May 27, met a host of leaders in politics, business and academia including Law Minister Edwin Tong and Senior Minister of State for Foreign Affairs and Home Affairs Sim Ann.
'We discussed India's perspective on the situation in Pahalgam following the terror attacks on 22 April 2025. I reaffirmed Singapore's firm stance against terrorism and our strong condemnation of the terror attacks in Pahalgam,' Mr Tong said on social media after the meeting.
The nine-member delegation, led by Mr Sanjay Kumar Jha, a leader of the Janata Dal (United), a regional party, started their messaging campaign in Japan and South Korea, and was in Indonesia on May 28. Their tour ends in Malaysia.
Not to be left behind, Pakistan too has indicated it plans to dispatch a multi-party delegation led by Pakistan People's Party chief Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari.
Starting next week, this delegation will visit Washington, London, Paris and Brussels to 'highlight India's disinformation campaign and its attempts to destabilise regional peace,' according to Pakistani media.
Separately, Pakistan's Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif is on a visit to Turkiye, Iran, Azerbaijan and Tajikistan from May 25-30 to hold 'wide-ranging discussions' including on the recent hostilities with India.
These visits are also aimed at building global support on issues like water security, after India in retaliation for the Kashmir attack put the Indus water treaty, which governs water sharing of six cross border rivers, in abeyance, said Mr Bhutto-Zardari to The Dawn newspaper.
For India, one key aim is to reverse some earlier missteps in its war of narratives and to rally the home ground.
New Delhi reportedly expected stronger global support in its fight against Pakistan, and was also blindsided by US President Donald Trump repeatedly claiming credit for brokering the ceasefire between the two South Asian neighbours. India abhors third-party intervention in what it views as a bilateral matter, and has insisted the truce was the result of simply an agreement with Pakistan.
It shudders too, at Mr Trump's description of both India Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Mr Sharif as 'strong leaders', given India's self-belief in its stature as an emerging global power.
Many Indian commentators thus feel that New Delhi has failed to present its position clearly, partly due to disinformation from mainstream Indian television channels.
Many in India also felt that the Pakistani leadership was more visible on international media in the initial days of the hostilities.
''Pakistan managed to reposition itself diplomatically... and recast the conflict as one of two equals requiring mediation,' wrote former Indian foreign secretary Nirupama Rao in an opinion piece in The Indian Express newspaper.
Mr Salman Khurshid, a former India External Affairs Minister and a member of the country's delegation to Singapore, said that he felt that the trip had been 'successful' given the response in the different countries.
'There is a reiteration of empathy for India, condolences for the people who lost their lives, and condemnation of terrorism. That has been reiterated, and I think that is good ,' Mr Khurshid told ST.
'There is also the entire narrative from the Indian point of view, and it's a good thing that we've come, and we are able to revive that narrative . It's important that the narrative is given a push .'
India's Ministry of External Affairs said in a press release that the delegation 'requested Singapore's support in the fight against terrorism', particularly in multilateral forums like the United Nations and the Financial Action Task Force, a global financial crime watchdog. It did not elaborate on how Singapore responded.
Mr Modi has vowed strong action against cross-border terrorism, adding that any further 'terrorist attack' would be regarded as an 'act of war'. Defence minister Rajnath Singh has framed this as a redefinition of India's policy against terrorism.
India's message through these delegations has also been that it will not make any distinction between the state sponsoring terrorism and the groups carrying out the terror attacks.
India has long blamed Pakistan for cross-border terrorism, accusing its military of abetting and aiding Pakistan-based terror groups that target India, including the Lashkar-e-Taiba. India has blamed The Resistance Front, which Indian authorities believe is a proxy of the Lashkar-e-Taiba proxy, for the Pahalgam attack.
This time round, while India accused Pakistan of triggering the hostilities, Pakistan has in turn accused India of being the aggressor, denying Indian allegations that it is abetting terrorism or using it as state policy.
Crucially, India has not yet managed to arrest the perpetrators of the Kashmir attacks , though officials have said that they have been identified.
'It's not that Pakistan has defeated India when it comes to narrative wars,' said Mr Faran Jeffery of Islamic Theology of Counter Terrorism, a UK-based counterterrorism think-tank.
'Better is expected from India. So when India didn't present any evidence for its claims and didn't even bother to complete its own internal investigation before it escalated with Pakistan, that was seen as irresponsible in some capitals.'
He added: 'Will (delegations) produce any results? I'm not entirely sure.'
With additional reporting by Arvind Jayaram in Singapore.
Nirmala Ganapathy is India bureau chief at The Straits Times. She is based in New Delhi and writes about India's foreign policy and politics.
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