Countering Pakistan’s information warfare CENJOWS 04 Dec 19
https://cenjows.gov.in/article-detail?id=225
Countering Pakistan’s information warfare CENJOWS 04 Dec 19
General Ata Hasnain, speaking at the Institute of Strategic Studies, UK, in Mar this year, stated, ‘I give full marks to Pakistan for the way it has played out its information strategy. The ISPR (Inter Services Public Relations) has done an outstanding work for Pakistan.’ He added, ‘the hybrid (war) can only be countered by hybrid and not by conventional means.’ He subsequently stated on twitter, ‘A national communication strategy body is a crying need.’ The reality is that Pak’s information warfare capability has left India far behind.
Taking some examples from recent times would indicate how Pak has been able to create an advantage for themselves in information warfare, despite suffering setbacks. Post the surgical strike in 2016, despite all Indian attempts to discredit the Pak army, there was limited success. While Indians accepted and celebrated the strike, the Pak DG ISPR played a successful information warfare game and convinced its public that Indian actions were a figment of imagination, thus saving their reputation. They took foreign delegates well after having cleared the suspected locations and displayed no damage.
The same happened after the Balakote strike. Here it acted after almost a month and a half to display to foreign delegates the site. To further its agenda, it has been overplaying the shooting down of the MIG 21 and the arrest of its pilot, Abhinandan, while hiding the reality of the strike and loss of its own aircraft. The Pak public, which should have questioned the army for its failures were made to believe that India achieved nothing.
Even within their media and political leadership, many of whom are aware of the reality, lack the courage to mention the truth, fearing the power of the deep state. The fact that both these attacks imposed severe caution on Pak forces and compelled them to alter their strategy on Kashmir has been ignored.
Post the abrogation of Article 370 the Pak deep state has been working overtime to convey to the world that there is a complete lockdown in the valley and all liberties remain blocked. It claims India has over 9 Lakh troops in the valley whereas the true figure remains about 2 Lakhs, with an additional one Lakh along the LoC. It has been claiming that the area remains under curfew, whereas the reality is that even orders under section 144 have been lifted from dawn to dusk.
Pak’s forceful global raising of the Kashmir issue forced India to launch a strong diplomatic campaign to defend its decision. India did invite a group of EU Members of Parliament to visit Kashmir, however the ball is still rolling from the Pak side.
There have been two Congressional hearings in the US, all comprising members who are anti-India and have passed anti-India resolutions. This has likely been pushed by the US based Pak lobby funded by the ISPR. Pak has been able to fund the mustering of large crowds in London to protest Indian actions, thus enhancing their visibility. The fact that there has not been a single incident of firing and no loss of lives has been ignored.
The ISPR has a large team, who are responsible for projecting the Pak viewpoint on social media, while simultaneously countering the Indian stand. This is possible because Pak is a military run state, where there is no authority to question the army. No true democracy can follow this system.
India has been compelled to block internet services in the erstwhile state of J and K to prevent the public from being influenced by fake Pakistani inputs, which could instigate violence and spread hatred across the region. Thus, Pak has effectively employed social media to its advantage and gained in multiple ways.
Firstly, it has hidden its army’s true losses and failures from its own population, continuing proving its invincibility. Secondly, it has been able to influence prominent groups across the world to question Indian decisions. Finally, it has been able to muster large crowds to protest Indian actions in Kashmir.
India has over the years not been able to adopt any comprehensive information warfare strategies to counter Pak’s hybrid warfare. Before evolving a strategy, Indian aims should be clear and focussed. Firstly, India needs to counter Pak in the international environment and prove to the world that Pak’s actions in Kashmir in the last thirty years have caused untold damages and led to loss of countless lives.
Secondly, if India desires a genuine democracy in Pak, which can lead to resolution of the Indo-Pak dispute and commence talks, then it needs to lower the artificial standing that the Pak army has been able to create within its own country. Simultaneously, it should remember that the army in every country is respected by the populace, unless it fails the state. Thirdly, it needs to project Pak’s hypocrisy in human rights, where it ignores Chinese subjugation of Uyghurs as also its own violent abuses in Baluchistan, Sindh, POK and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
As regards the first part of the strategy of proving the damage caused by Pak in Kashmir, India needs to spread of message of the crimes committed against Kashmiri Pundits and loss of lives due to militant strikes since the commencement of militancy. The sole voices of Aarti Tikoo Singh and Sunanda Vashisht who spoke in US congressional hearings failed to achieve the desired impact. Such voices should be shriller and at more frequent intervals. India should project through the voice of those affected by Pak’s actions that its policy of exporting terrorism not just to India but also to Afghanistan and Bangladesh, all of whom blame Pak, has led to loss of innocent lives.
For reducing the influence of the Pak army, the intention should be to present the damage being done to the Pak economy by the army backing the CPEC and the fact that its Grey Listing in the FATF is only because no government in the country has been able to prevent the army from reducing support to terrorist groups. Therefore, the sufferings of the population are because of the Pak army’s unwillingness to change its terrorist policies and continued support to a debt ridden CPEC. Further, the next retaliation to Pak’s misadventures should be in a location where their army would be unable to hide the impact of the Indian strike. It could lead to an escalation, for which the government must be prepared.
The third part of the Indian strategy of conveying Pak hypocrisy is easy as Pak has openly backed China in its subjugation of its Muslim minorities as also inputs on atrocities on its own minorities are readily available with exiled Baluchi’s, Sindhi’s, POK residents and Pashtuns. They only need a powerful platform which India can provide at the global stage.
Finally, India needs a dedicated team to counter Pak’s fake propaganda in the valley, which will commence with full force once internet services are restored.
The right level for formulating and implementing an anti-Pak information warfare strategy is the NSC. A team of strategists and technical experts need to be pulled together to form a comprehensive approach. As stated by General Ata Hasnain, ‘Hybrid war can only be countered by hybrid.’ India cannot be reacting to Pak, rather, it should be the other way around.
About the Author
Maj Gen Harsha Kakkar
Retired Major General Indian Army