India credits DG ISPR for Pakistan's upper hand in narrative warfare

Indian cybersecurity chief says Pakistan has got 'its act together' in information warfare

The Indian cybersecurity chief has heaped praise on Pakistan Army’s media wing, the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), and its director general Maj Gen Asif Ghafoor, saying “they [Pakistan] have got their act together” in information warfare against India.

Highlighting flaws in the Indian army, Lt Gen (retd) Rajesh Pant on Saturday said the three wings of the [Indian] armed forces have their own public relations officers and "they are going in different ways," India Today reported.

He stressed the need for a unified public relations command for the three wings of the armed forces to come at par with Pakistan in the "narrative warfare".

"When are we going to have our own equivalent of the DGISPR because the (Indian armed forces) services have their own PRs and they are going in different ways. Somebody at the national level now has to look at the narrative warfare and how to implement it in various domains," he said.

Indian COAS attempting to divert attention from citizenship law protests: DG ISPR

"What we are finding from the other side - from the western border - that since the time they have created the DGISPR, they have got their act together," he said while addressing a seminar on the topic of "Securing the Future Battlespace: Information and Space Warfare".

Former Indian general conceded that in narrative warfare, ISPR's message regarding human rights violations in Occupied Jammu and Kashmir carries weight and is being heard across the globe.

“When they (DGISPR) conduct narrative warfare, let's say in the case of Kashmir, the message they send to Europe is that human rights are being infringed… while when they engage with Islamic nations they tell them that Islam is under threat … and they tell Southeast Asia that there is a regional instability," Pant noted.

“So, they seem to have got their act together,” he concluded.

After ISI, ISPR becomes new obsession for Indians

After Pakistan’s premier intelligence agency (ISI), Pakistan Army’s media wing appears to have become an even bigger obsession for Indian military experts, especially after the recent military confrontation between the two hostile neighbours.

Although Pakistan won a victory in the 27 February air battle with India, their former military commanders and intelligence specialists have also admitted that Pakistan won the war in the information domain.

A retired Indian general praised ISPR for employing “outstanding strategy” in the domain of hybrid warfare while a prominent cyber-intelligence specialist had warned the India government of the threat the ISPR poses.