By: Kashaf Imran
Napoleon Bonaparte once said, “There are two powers in the world, the sword and the mind. In the long run, the sword is always beaten by the mind.” In this era of gradual progress in human intelligence, the security landscape is evolving too. With this progress and evolution, mankind has entered a phase of post-truth politics, in which warfare is more psychological than physical. In such a time, geopolitics is shaped and reshaped by narratives and propaganda that define policy decisions for security and defence. Seen through the prism of Indo-Pak conflicts—historical, contemporary, and the recent 2025 escalation—psychological warfare has always been a prevailing element in the confrontations between Islamabad and New Delhi. In the era of post-truth politics, PsyOps are strongly emerging as a powerful tool to manipulate, manoeuvre, and mobilize with the purpose of advancing statecraft tactics to destroy the enemy (Kumar, 2022).
In modern times, where the security landscape has been evolving continuously, the prevalence of post-truth politics—also known as post-factual politics and post-reality politics (Greene, 2025)—is manifested broadly in political cultures. Political dealings and strategic decisions in which subjectivity overshadows objectivity are called post-truth politics (Greene, 2025). According to Vittorio Bufacchi, “Post-truth is a murky concept, but it should not be confused with a lie” (European Center for Populism Studies, 2025). In the post-truth era, emotions overpower authentic facts, due to which the lines between truth and falsehood are blurred to the point that it becomes difficult to figure out what is right and authentic and what is wrong and fraudulent. These blurry lines give room to politicians and leaders to manipulate information by crafting narratives in order to gain public appeal through emotionalism, with the purpose of furthering their agenda driven by a hunger for power (Greene, 2025). According to John Keane, “Post-truth is the public burial of ‘objective facts’ by an avalanche of media ‘appeals to emotion and personal belief’” (European Center for Populism Studies, 2025). In sum, post-truth is a belief that truth has become obsolete (European Center for Populism Studies, 2025), using the tool of deception, making it far more devious and concerningly dangerous for a democratic society (European Center for Populism Studies, 2025). As a concept, post-truth politics is a new area of concern for academia, being a contemporary problem (Greene, 2025). However, despite being a contemporary problem, post-truth politics has historical roots (Greene, 2025); it is only with the advent of the internet and social changes that it has become more notable (European Center for Populism Studies, 2025). Hence, the concept of post-truth politics is like old wine in a new bottle. Tracing the roots of history, the manipulation of truth and elements of post-truth politics have been greatly found in ancient times, dominating philosophical discussion. Notable among them are Plato’s concept of the “noble lie” (Greene, 2025), and Machiavelli’s The Prince.
The use of propaganda against the enemy, supported by military, economic, or political measures with the intention of demoralizing the opponent, is called psychological warfare or PsyOps. Psychological warfare is not a new concept; it has existed since ancient times and has persistently evolved alongside the evolution of warfare. In ancient times, PsyOps were used by Cyrus the Great against Babylon, Xerxes against the Greeks, and Philip II of Macedon against Athens. In the 20th century, PsyOps became a dominant tool with which armies were trained, particularly the German and Allied forces during World War II, and the U.S. armed forces in the Korean and Vietnam wars (Encyclopædia Britannica, 2025). In modern times and the contemporary world, PsyOps have now become a concentrated expression and an integral part of all-time and space-struggle forms (Beauchamp-Mustafaga, 2023). Psychological warfare and its tactics have a broad scope in their manifestation, making them a crucial tool to further the agenda of post-truth politics. The truth is purposefully killed through psychological operations and tactics. This creates a security environment in which the public opinion of the enemy is no longer capable of distinguishing truth from falsehood (Parezanović & Proroković, 2024), creating a situation of psychological insecurity.
Ever since the British Raj demarcated the borders and divided the subcontinent, the now nuclear powers have been fighting with each other on the grounds of hate, animosity, and aggression, persistently through psychological warfare with the use of post-truth tactics. Right after the demarcation of borders, the newly formed Pakistan and India underwent the first war on the land of Kashmir in October 1947 that continued for more than a year until a ceasefire was declared in January 1949 (GlobalSecurity.org, 2025). The first Kashmir war was one of the earliest examples of PsyOps and propaganda warfare between India and Pakistan that leveraged upon regional dynamics, political disenfranchisement, and religious sentiments were leveraged to shape public perception and fuel the insurgency (Bakaya & Bhatti, n.d.). Moreover, radio played a crucial role as a government-controlled media tool of propaganda to power and fuel the war by influencing perceptions to gain support, combating insurgency, and for demoralizing adversary (Bhat, 2013).
In 1965, India and Pakistan underwent a second war over the disputed state of Jammu and Kashmir. The conflict this time involved the USA and USSR in such a way that would have important implications for subsequent superpower involvement in the region. The war was called off when the Security Council passed Resolution 211 on September 20, calling for an end. The ceasefire was accepted by India and Pakistan on September 21 and September 22, respectively (Office of the Historian, U.S. Department of State, n.d.). Unlike the first Indo-Pak war, the 1965 war intensely manifested post-truth narratives and elements of PsyOps through extensive use of various media forms—radio broadcasts, newspapers, press photography, and poetry for shaping national identity and public perception extending beyond propaganda. In this war, non military personnel made great contributions in fuelling PsyOps by galvanizing public sentiments. Figures like Faiz Ahmed Faiz and Ahmad Nadeem Qasmi contributed greatly with nationalistic fervour. The war was a pioneer conflict of the era where emotional appeals had more weight and value over objective facts and substantial truths (Dadi, 2023)
According to Naseer (2023), the disintegration of Pakistan, the liberation of Bangladesh, and the Indo-Pak War of 1971 are archetypal manifestations of inimical, divisive psychological operations (Naseer, n.d.). All three stakeholders—Pakistan, East Pakistan (Bangladesh), and India—capitalized on tactics of PsyOps, building upon post-truth politics by exploiting the enemy’s fault lines, mobilizing the masses through emotionalism, and promoting a nationalistic mindset to further their respective agendas. Tactics such as maintaining the morale of comrades were key tools utilized by the Bangladesh government-in-exile and Indian authorities through radio stations and airwaves (Khan, 2023). India capitalized on well-identified fault lines between East and West Pakistan by continuously manufacturing and disseminating divisive propaganda (Naseer, n.d.) against Pakistan in the name of humanitarian intervention. Through this, India created political division and intensified the trust deficit (Naseer, n.d.), which proved to be the final nail in the coffin, permanently dividing an already segmented Pakistan into different nations.
At the end of May 1999, Islamabad, under the name of Operation Badr, infiltrated the Indian-administered territory in February with the aim of capturing the Kargil region. In response, New Delhi launched a military operation code-named Vijay with the aim of pushing back the intruders (Encyclopædia Britannica, 2025). The attack and retaliation led to the outbreak of the famously known Kargil War, which was rightly dubbed the “first Indo-Pak televised war” (Yamin, 2019). The war was extensively broadcast by Indian media, marking the world’s entry into a new era of warfare in which, following radio, television became a weapon of war to further propaganda. India tactfully utilized the opportunity through its strong media houses to control the war narrative and news cycle (Yamin, 2019), gathering international support and pushing Pakistan into a quagmire of misperception.
The 21st century marks the era of the digital age, in which the internet has become a potent tool for psychological operations (PsyOps), intensifying Indo-Pak conflicts without direct confrontation. The Uri attack and the subsequent surgical strikes of 2016 were apt manifestations of how the internet furthers the warfare agenda. Both India and Pakistan generated significant propaganda through digital platforms, using trending hashtags, tweets, and bots to shape narratives, influence public attitudes, and provoke retaliatory sentiments (Naseeb, 2025).
Three years after the Uri attacks, Islamabad and New Delhi experienced the Pulwama-Balakot crisis, during which media on both sides acted as escalatory agents, promoting and fueling pro-government and nationalist perspectives. During prime time on February 14, social media and television were flooded with defence and political analysts creating echo chambers that ignited hate and a desire for revenge, particularly on the Indian side. Pakistan, on the other hand, countered the narrative and rejected any Pakistani link to the Pulwama attack in its initial response. Although Pakistan’s reporting wasn’t as aggressive as India’s during the first news cycle, the Pakistani media later followed the government’s stance and projected blame on India for spreading false propaganda (Malhotra, 2020).
The 2025 Indo-Pak flashpoint was less of a military confrontation, more of a geopolitical battlefield of narratives in which war was combated through psychological tactics, post-truth manipulation, and canons of narratives. New Delhi and India intensified their retaliation and escalation using digital platforms to influence public perception and international opinion. In this flashpoint, it surge of misinformation, deepfakes, meme attacks, and coordinated social media campaigns was witness (Admin, 2025). In response to the Pahalgam attack, India launched “Operation Sindoor” accompanied by diplomatic outreach, to malign the soft image of Pakistan as a terrorist nation. Pakistan positioned itself as a victim of India’s ruthless hegemony and responded by launching Operation Bunyan um Marsoos, emphasizing strategic stability and highlighting India’s alleged human rights abuses (Times of India, 2025).
According to the thesis of Dominique Moïsi’s ‘The Geopolitics of Emotion’, geopolitics is increasingly shaped by emotions of fear, humiliation, and hope rather than objectivity, truth, factual information, and rationality (Moïsi, 2009). The thesis of Moisi’s Geopolitics of Emotions aptly describes the era of post-truth politics and its application in PsyOps. The thesis provides a nuanced understanding of how, since inception, Indo-Pak conflicts are driven by emotionalism grounded in historical grievances and animosity with both the nuke states lacking pragmatism. Fear in India and humiliation in Pakistan drives Islamabad and New Delhi to proliferate media and social platforms, hence both the states engage in post truth politics by brainwashing public through sentiments and constructed narratives making them turn blind eye to objective facts and authentic truths with New Delhi emphasizing on its Hindutva doctrine and Islamabad focusing on Islamic ideology both using sacred scriptures to manipulate (Sandhu, 2015).
Both India and Pakistan, be it in peacetime or wartime, conduct their state affairs by utilizing the doctrine of post-truth politics aptly particularly during times of conflict and war. According to Ajit Doval “wars are gradually becoming ineffective in achieving political and military objectives and that they are also highly expensive and are gradually becoming unaffordable.” putting forward the idea of 4th generation having elements of tactics that attacks enemy without use of expensive weapons. This is done through narrative engineering which in case of Pakistan and India animosity requires propagation of history, culture, religion, and philosophy to shape public opinion with no liability to be grounded in objective truths rather the mandate is to manipulate and twist everything such that it aligns with state objectives (Kumar, 2022).
Post-truth politics is an application of Sun’s Tzu war law attack by stratagem which has been aptly utilised by India against Pakistan. According to Sun Tzu the primary cannon of military strategy is to subdue enemy with direct confrontation but rather by prioritizing intelligence, deception, and strategic planning over brute force (Sun Tzu, 2002). India as an opponent, has always painted Pakistan as a haven for terrorists by taking advantage of Pakistan’s internal flaws. Moreover, the employment of propaganda and misinformation activities by India to disseminate false information and fabricate unfavourable narratives about Pakistan (Imran, 2019).
According to the former CIA Station Chief of Pakistan, during war on terror “India was motivated to highlight divergence between USA’s and Pakistan’s interests. They were particularly active in highlighting this divergence after 911. India was very eager to highlight that Pakistan did very little to control the activities of al-Qaeda before 911. They also tried to suggest that there was a clear link between Pakistan’s support to al-Qaeda, refusal to work actively against al-Qaeda and alleged Pakistan’s support to Kashmir militancy. It was a clear propaganda deployed against Pakistan by India” (R. Grenier, personal communication, 2023).
The media, the fourth pillar of the state, is a strong tool with the power to influence political structures and public opinion, and has been aptly used as a tool of manipulation to further the post-truth agenda to combat PsyOps by both the nuke nations. It took Pakistan to lose a war to realize the importance of tool of media, and this weakness was cashed by India in 1999 when it heavily broadcast the war and sold its narrative. Nevertheless, both states share historical baggage that has always been reflected in their respective media by framing of crisis and giving rise to nationalist sentiments[1]. Due to this emotionalism journalism has always been in quagmire of nationalism. According to Najam Sethi “I regret to say that the media in both countries remain entrapped in narrow nationalism and remain part of the problem rather than the solution…”(Bose, 2011)
According to Jonathan Swift “Falsehood flies and truth comes limping after it.” These words of Swift has great relevance in the era of post truth politics where falsehood, maligning of facts, brainwashing through emotionalism are so in power that truth, objectivity and authenticity are blurred, slow, overshadowed and unnoticed. Due to this the warfare has evolved with PsyOps getting more influential to defeat the enemy without direct confrontation. The Indo-Pak relations driven by hate, animosity, security dilemma reflects this narrative through historical war, contemporary crisis and present 2025 flashpoint.
The author is an MS Scholar and Defence Analyst from CIPS, NUST, having expertise in psychological warfare, post-truth politics, and the emerging evolution of warfare. She can be contacted at [email protected] as well as on Instagram at @the.kashaf.imran
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