Shut up and speak clearly: India needs to fix the glaring dissonance in its communication

Economic Times

21-05-2025

Enough Babel-ing Expectedly, domestic and international debate on Operation Sindoor has been sharp and wide. Both in execution and outcome, the military strikes that began on May 7 were dramatic. In the initial hours, there was an inevitable information fog. Today, there is greater clarity.Yet, it falls to reason that the imperatives and impact, the episode's facets and attributes, military and strategic upshots, and diplomatic and political lessons will be discussed and analysed for months to come.
Some of the early propaganda offensive and media warfare were clearly overdone. There is now increasing evidence that the initial framing of the India-Pakistan exchange as a battle between French/Western and Chinese platforms was an exaggeration and oversimplification. At one point, the course of the conflict was even sought to be gauged by stock market movements of individual military manufacturers. This was puzzling, and irrelevant. An Indian fighter pilot famously shot down a Pakistan Air Force F-104 Starfighter in the 1971 war. Lockheed did not go bankrupt. It remains an aerospace giant to this day.No military situation is clean and one-sided all the time. Even so, serious briefings from the Indian armed forces, and tantalising statements that have come out of Islamabad, unerringly point to the same conclusion. India's twin moves - the strikes on terrorist camps that extended to the heartland of Pakistani Punjab, and crippling of multiple air bases all over Pakistan - went beyond any achievement the adversary could demonstrate.Of course, it was not for want of trying. The Pakistanis threw in everything they could, including ballistic missiles. Indian defences held out. The S-400 justified its reputation. Drone warfare became a living reality for a new generation of Indian military practitioners.In a sense, glimpses of the future of warfare were available. For all the post facto rhetoric, Pakistan asked for a cessation of hostilities after its air bases were damaged. Any further escalation was now difficult without assurance of air power.Military assessments will continue to be updated as more and more evidence emerges. However, there is already enough before us to draw conclusions on the diplomatic and communications situation and challenges. These merit some contemplation.
After Uri (2016) and Pulwama (2019), India undertook cross-border counter-terrorism strikes into POK, and then Pakistan proper. It is worth comparing the diplomatic roadblocks back then - in 2016, for example - to those now. Indian diplomacy had to persuade the global community that there was adequate space for conventional action under a nuclear umbrella. The alternative to no action was not all-out, total and mutually destructive war - as the Pakistanis had argued in 2001-02, and then in 2008 after the Mumbai terrorist attacks.
This time, after the Pahalgam massacre, countries offered India sympathy and solidarity. However, nobody issued serious public statements - or undertook shuttle diplomacy - calling for New Delhi not to respond. A response was taken for granted. India's argument that there was ample room for kinetic operations under the nuclear umbrella had been internalised. There was also trust that the Narendra Modi government would act responsibility and measuredly. That India did not have to diplomatically persevere to make its case for a response was in itself a telling success of Indian diplomacy.To be sure, there was a difference between April 22 and May 7. International partners were understanding of a response. But once it had been made, they were wary of where it could end. To all of them, India's messaging was consistent: there would be no escalation if Pakistan did not escalate. This continued for a couple of rounds, till Islamabad decided it would not - or could not - escalate.India's message was delivered to every country that spoke to it, including the UAE and Saudi Arabia. They were - separately - also in close contact with Pakistan. The US came in late, but overstated its role. The say-do ratio of Washington's storied diplomatic tradition has changed.Finally, strategic communications is a critical element of digital-age diplomacy and conflict management. India pays insufficient attention to it. It is notable that the recently-announced National Security Advisory Board has put together talent from the armed forces, diplomacy, internal security and intelligence - but completely ignored strategic comms and, for that matter, supply chains. There is a crying need for modernisation in approach.Amid Operation Sindoor as well, there was a glaring dissonance in terms of an overarching communications strategy. Rather than leave media and public emotions to their own devices - and, in some cases, fevered imagination - there should have been a convergence between the messaging to diplomatic interlocutors and to domestic constituencies.International partners were being told that India did not want to escalate. Destroying terrorist camps - in addition to coercive economic diplomacy in the form of Indus Waters Treaty measures - had achieved objectives. The domestic mood was given no such salve, no 'mission accomplished' prophylactic. The result was a media-social media ecosystem that went berserk.A $4 tn economy can do better. In fact, given its stakes, it needs to do better. The parliamentary delegations travelling to various partner countries offer an opportunity to fill that gap. (Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this column are that of the writer. The facts and opinions expressed here do not reflect the views of www.economictimes.com.) Elevate your knowledge and leadership skills at a cost cheaper than your daily tea. RBI has cut repo rates twice in 3 months. But that isn't enough to boost the economy!
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