Pakistan’s Post-Conflict Information Warfare: Narratives after the 2025 India–Pakistan Clash

The brief 2025 India–India-Pakistan conflict, triggered by a terror attack in Kashmir and ended by a US-brokered ceasefire, saw not only missiles but an intense information war. In early May 2025, India launched “Operation Sindoor” (May 6–7), striking multiple terrorist camps in Pakistan and Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir. Pakistan responded with drone and missile attacks. According to news reports, this was “the most serious military confrontation between the nuclear-armed rivals in decades.” Indian officials reported that strikes targeted nine militant launchpads, and Pakistan replied with heavy shelling along the Line of Control. In a press briefing, India’s Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri emphasised that Pakistan’s claims of destroying Indian systems were “false” and part of a “malicious misinformation campaign.”

Throughout the crisis, both sides hurled accusations and misinformation. Pakistan’s government and media pushed narratives of Indian aggression and Pakistani retaliation, while Indian officials denounced this as baseless propaganda. For example, Pakistan claimed to have shot down dozens of Indian drones; the Indian Defence Ministry countered that Pakistan launched 400 drones at Indian targets and that up to 77 were intercepted. In turn, Pakistani officials denied any cross-border incursions by India, blaming New Delhi for “false-flag” attacks even as evidence was unclear. In this fog of war, independent analysts urged a “zero-trust” approach to online reports: “never assume, always verify,” since “propaganda travels faster than missiles.” Analysts noted that both sides were pushing conflicting narratives, releasing images of questionable origin, and leveraging social platforms to shape perception.

As India emerged with the battlefield upper hand, with dominant escalation, and Pakistan conceded defeat, Islamabad turned aggressively to digital and psychological operations. Pakistani state-linked networks, media outlets and social-media influencers launched a coordinated campaign to shape public opinion at home and abroad. The goal was to deflect blame, claim moral high ground, and sow doubt about India’s narrative. This involved OSINT manipulation, fake prisoner-of-war (PoW) claims, doctored images and videos, and hashtag campaigns on X (formerly Twitter).

Patterns of Pakistani Disinformation

Pakistan’s post-conflict information strategy followed patterns seen in earlier India–Pakistan crises. In 2025, similar tactics re-emerged on an even larger scale. Pakistani state media and allied channels repeatedly disseminated unverified or false claims: Exaggerated military victories: Pakistani news outlets claimed the Pakistan Air Force had intercepted “25 to 29” Indian drones and downed as many as five Indian fighter jets. For example, Pakistani sources aired stories of dramatic shoot-downs without any evidence. Indian analysts flatly rejected these: a fact-checker noted that footage of a burning fighter jet used by Pakistani sources was actually an image from a September 2024 Mig-29 crash in Rajasthan. Phony retaliation claims: Pakistani accounts circulated old explosion videos and images as if India had attacked Pakistani territory. One viral night-time video of explosions (tagged #OperationSindoor) actually dated from October 2024 and showed Israeli airstrikes in Gaza. Similarly, photographs of burning buildings claimed to be strikes in Sialkot were traced to unrelated Israeli strikes on Gaza in 2021. Such mismatched content was used to cast India as the aggressor – in reality, none of the images depicted recent India–Pakistan fighting. Pakistani social media spread sensational rumours to panic Indian audiences, purportedly urging Indian users to “turn off location services” on their phones and falsely reporting damage to India’s infrastructure. For instance, baseless messages claimed Pakistan had destroyed an Indian S-400 air-Defence battery and knocked out 70% of India’s power grid. India’s Press Information Bureau (PIB) swiftly labelled these “fake news.” Pakistan launched a disinformation blitz claiming heavy Indian losses while hiding its own. Its media asserted dozens of Indian casualties on the Line of Control, whereas Indian officials reported India killed 100 “terrorists” attacking Indian posts. Pakistani channels also claimed civilian deaths from alleged Indian strikes, which India later said lacked any proof.

These tactics – hijacking events, recycling unrelated content, and amplifying half-truths – fit a broader pattern. It is well documented that Pakistani influencers routinely hijack trending hashtags to attack India. During 2025’s crisis, analysts observed similar behaviour: pro-Pakistan accounts quickly capitalised on any viral Indian topics, twisting them into anti-India propaganda. In summary, Pakistan’s social-media networks were primed to flood X with propaganda once conflict erupted.

OSINT Manipulation and Doctored Media

A key element of Pakistan’s campaign was OSINT manipulation: the misuse of open-source data (photos, videos, maps) to fabricate evidence. Fact-checkers found numerous examples of this. Many “fiery” images and videos circulating on social media were unrelated to the conflict, often taken from other wars, yet presented as proof of Pakistani claims. The Indian press also documented “doctored visuals, fake letters, [and] manipulated videos” used in a coordinated disinformation effort. A widely shared photo purportedly showing Indian Army posts destroyed by Pakistan was debunked by India’s fact-checkers. They confirmed the clip was entirely fake – the supposed “20 Raj Battalion” doesn’t exist. Similarly, an image claiming a Pakistani missile had hit an Indian S-400 battery turned out to be an old photo of a Russian fire incident. Even images of an explosion at Jammu airbase were reused from old photos from a 2021 airport blast in Kabul. Viral videos of strikes were often misattributed. A video of a drone strike in Jalandhar (Punjab) was revealed to be a farm fire, as the timestamps did not match any conflict event. Another clip supposedly showing missiles raining on India was just footage of a 2020 Beirut explosion. Pakistan-based social-media handles circulated all these as if they were fresh evidence. Pakistani propagandists pushed “time-stamped images” claiming India had struck Sirsa and Suratgarh bases, but these were convincingly refuted with real satellite images. In other words, Pakistan sought to use open-source imagery to create a false narrative, which India countered with authoritative evidence.

Fake Prisoners-of-War and Emotional Narratives

A dramatic strand of Pakistan’s information campaign involved fake prisoner-of-war (PoW) claims. Pakistani social media widely circulated the story that an Indian Air Force (IAF) pilot, “Squadron Leader Shivani Singh”, had been captured after ejecting over Pakistan. This narrative was repeated by various websites and influencers to suggest a Pakistani victory. India’s Press Information Bureau (PIB) immediately debunked it as false. The PIB clarified that no such pilot existed and that the stories were entirely fabricated.

India’s fact-check unit explicitly labelled the pilot-capture claim as “FAKE”, and also dismissed related rumours of pilots ejecting over Pakistan as baseless. (In fact, no Indian jets were downed during Operation Sindoor.) Likewise, social media posts showing weeping or deserting Indian soldiers were exposed as unrelated old footage. These hoaxes were clearly designed to demoralise Indians and inflate Pakistan’s prowess.

Social-Media Campaigns and Hashtag Warfare

On social platforms like X (formerly Twitter), Pakistani actors hijacked and amplified discussions. According to a Carnegie Mellon study, Pakistani accounts frequently trended anti-India hashtags to seize international attention. In 2025’s crisis, similar tactics were employed: immediately after clashes began, many Pakistani-linked users appropriated global hashtags and Indian trending topics to inject anti-Indian messages. For instance, with hashtags such as #FakeUnionOfIndia, they sought to portray India’s democracy as fraudulent. Pakistani media outlets themselves released headlines that doubled as propaganda hashtags. Even so-called “independent influencers” often echoed the official line. Bots and troll farms were involved as well. On X, thousands of tweets would mimic each other to amplify talking points. When the Indian government urged calm (through the hashtag #IndiaFightsPropaganda), Pakistani bots would simultaneously spread counter-messages.

Indian Countermeasures and Fact-Checking

India’s response to Pakistan’s information onslaught was systematic and public. The government’s Fact-Check unit (PIB) and media tirelessly debunked false stories in real time. Hundreds of social-media claims were fact-checked within days. For example, circulated images of explosions or infrastructure damage were swiftly refuted using real-time satellite data or media archives.

Multiple Pakistani-origin claims were also exposed. The Times of India reported, for instance, that all such Pakistan-based claims (from destroyed S-400 launchers to drone attacks) were “completely false.” Even erroneous reports citing global agencies were flagged as fake by the PIB. The Indian government confronted Pakistan’s narrative by publicly airing the evidence, often with timestamps and geolocation, to show exactly how images and clips were misused. It is also worth noting that Indian TV News media also used some speculative news on the night of 8^th May. Nevertheless, India has maintained that its official information channels run through government sources and pressers.

Outside observers largely corroborated India’s account. International fact-checkers and analysts noted the torrent of Pakistani misinformation. Scholarly studies argue that Pakistan routinely exploits information warfare to target India’s social and political cohesion. In 2025, this strategy surfaced in how Pakistani networks portrayed Indian actions as part of an “anti-Muslim” campaign and Indian society as unstable. Conversely, India’s approach was to emphasize evidence-based rebuttals. Officials noted that “Pakistan’s claims… continue to be heavy on lies” and insisted that every major assertion from Pakistani sources should be verified. The Indian Foreign Ministry even cited reduced press freedom rankings to imply that state-managed media in both countries made independent verification difficult.

Conclusion

In the aftermath of its military defeat, Pakistan turned to a full-scale information campaign. It flooded social media with manipulated images, false claims of victories, and conspiratorial rumours. However, the campaign’s weaknesses were equally evident. Indian and international fact-checkers quickly debunked the Pakistani fabrications one by one. Government officials labelled the flow of news from Pakistan as intentional propaganda and published counter-evidence. In sum, Pakistan’s information warfare after the 2025 conflict was aggressive but ultimately unsuccessful in overturning the facts. The volume of disinformation it spread – from fake PoW stories to doctored strike videos – only underscored its desperation. Careful analysis shows these claims were consistently refuted by credible evidence. By contrast, the Indian narrative of having neutralized terrorist threats and repelled Pakistani aggression was supported by on-the-ground data. In this digital era, propaganda may travel faster than missiles, but only verifiable truth can withstand scrutiny.