The recent ceasefire agreement between India and Pakistan offers a welcome respite from physical confrontation. Yet, while bullets and shells may have paused along the Line of Control, the real war, one far more insidious, is being fought in the digital realm. The battlefield today is not limited to the mountainous terrain of Kashmir; it extends across timelines, Telegram channels, and YouTube comment sections.

The latest round of escalations has underscored a troubling evolution: the war for territory is being accompanied and at times overshadowed by war for perception.

In this domain, Pakistan’s tactics have been both strategic and opportunistic. Its recent disinformation blitz launched in the immediate aftermath of cross-border exchanges was not merely about scoring online points. It was a coordinated campaign aimed at destabilising Indian public morale, confusing international audiences, and muddying the waters of accountability. Disinformation has long been a tool in Pakistan’s geopolitical arsenal, but its scale, intensity, and precision during this episode reveal a digital doctrine that deserves serious scrutiny.

From the earliest hours of the conflict, Pakistani social media accounts began circulating false claims of military victories, often backed by recycled visuals. One viral tweet declared that a Pakistani missile had downed an Indian drone, accompanied by a video from an entirely unrelated Turkish drone strike in Syria. Within hours, other posts emerged purporting to show bombed-out Indian villages later revealed to be footage from natural disasters in Nepal and Bangladesh. The goal was clear: distort the narrative, dilute the legitimacy of India’s position, and dominate the attention economy before facts could catch up.

The most brazen of these fabrications may have been the claim that India had fired missiles into Amritsar. Not only was this entirely baseless, but its strategic intent was deeply provocative. It appeared designed to ignite communal tensions within India.

A social media post........

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