India Hit Pakistan Hard, India’s Loudest Silence: How Operation Sindoor Exposed the Manufactured Narrative of ‘Narrative Failure’

By Dr kumar Rakesh  

When Indian fighter jets flew deep into Pakistani territory during Operation Sindoor, targeting terror launchpads and critical military infrastructure, they left behind a trail of scorched airbases, destroyed hangars, and collapsed command centers. But back home, amidst studio debates and digital chatter, a curious twist unfolded.

While the enemy licked its wounds, parts of India were obsessed with something else: “India’s narrative management has failed.”

This phrase — repeated by analysts, journalists, influencers, and even well-meaning strategists — quickly became the dominant storyline, almost eclipsing the fact that India had conducted one of its deepest, most successful strikes in decades.

Let’s be clear: it is not that India’s communication was flawless — it wasn’t. But the obsession with narrative failure has become a narrative war of its own, one that threatens to undermine strategic victories and erode public confidence, even when there is nothing to doubt.

The Success That Spoke for Itself — But Was Drowned by Theatrics

According to The Washington Post, which analyzed over two dozen satellite images, India’s strike damaged six major airfields in Pakistan. Visual evidence confirms craters, destroyed radar stations, and burnt hangars, some at airbases housing critical assets like Saab 2000 AEW aircraft and mobile command units.

Pakistan, despite its bluster, has not denied the damage outright — choosing instead the route of silence and misdirection, a classic move in psychological warfare.

India, for its part, chose strategic ambiguity, not for lack of confidence, but likely out of concern for escalation control. But this silence was immediately twisted — not just by Pakistan, but by voices within India, declaring the entire operation a narrative failure.

The Irony: Calling a Victory a Failure, Just Because It Wasn’t Loud Enough

What happened next is a classic case of perception hijack:

1. Enemy media called the strike imaginary.
2. Indian commentators began asking: “Why isn’t the government saying more?”
3. This escalated into: “India’s narrative has collapsed.”
4. Which became a louder story than the strike itself.

This is the second-level narrative trap — undermining India’s win by suggesting the win was not “marketed” properly, and therefore, not meaningful.

But ask a simple question: if the Indian government had rushed to announce everything, released videos, or gone loud — would these same critics not say: “This is chest-thumping, irresponsible nationalism”?

India is being attacked no matter what it does — and that’s the playbook of modern disinformation warfare.

Who Benefits From the “Narrative Failure” Narrative?

This is not just innocent criticism or media pressure. The constant talk of “narrative failure” serves three purposes — none of them in India’s interest:

1. It delegitimizes real military success. People stop focusing on the damage caused to the enemy and start questioning their own side.
2. It creates domestic division, turning victory into a subject of political infighting.
3. It helps enemy states, especially Pakistan, spin the story as “See, even Indians don’t believe it happened.”

The fact that The Washington Post had to validate India’s success, and only then did public opinion start shifting back, is a worrying sign — not of India’s failure to act, but of India’s failure to trust its own institutions before foreign media confirms it.

Yes, There Were Gaps — But Let’s Not Fall Into the Trap

It would be naïve to pretend everything was handled perfectly. There were real communication gaps:

• No official statement in the first 24 hours.
• Lack of visual proof or targeted media briefings.
• Silence on casualty figures and strategic messaging.

But these should be seen as areas for improvement, not as proof of failure. Nations like Israel and the U.S. also maintain silence during operations — but they don’t face internal sabotage every time they do it.

India’s real weakness isn’t narrative management; it’s narrative confidence. The instinct to immediately doubt our own side, chase foreign validation, and highlight mistakes louder than victories is what truly weakens us.

How to Fix the Real Problem Without Fueling the Wrong Narrative

India needs to evolve its information strategy — not to satisfy TV anchors, but to stay ahead in modern warfare. Here’s how we strike the right balance:

1. Create a National Narrative Cell

A joint unit between the Defence Ministry, MEA, and Digital India agencies that prepares pre-emptive information warfare playbooks. It should be able to deploy counter-narratives, verified visuals, and official briefings rapidly.

2. Train Spokespersons and Journalists in Narrative Warfare

This isn’t about state propaganda. It’s about strategic communication training. Even war reporters in the West are embedded and aligned with national security objectives. India must adopt similar protocols.

3. Call Out Internal Narrative Sabotage

Freedom of press must be protected — but false equivalence between our military’s actions and enemy propaganda must be flagged. Platforms should be responsible in highlighting facts first, questions second.

 Stop Saying “India Lost the Narrative” — You’re Helping Those Who Want That

Operation Sindoor was a strategic and psychological blow to Pakistan — so powerful, their own government is still silent. International media has confirmed the impact. Military analysts have verified the visuals. Even Pakistani silence is proof of their pain.

Yet within India, a second war has raged — a war of doubt, of misplaced cynicism, of exaggerated expectations for media theatrics. And now, the biggest threat to India’s narrative isn’t Pakistan — it’s India’s own short attention span.

Let us not allow the fake narrative of “narrative failure” to erase what is a clear military win, a doctrinal evolution, and a message of strength.

Because in today’s world, the loudest lie wins if the truth stays silent too long.

India must speak — not with drama, not with doubt, but with strategic clarity.

And above all, India must learn to trust its own story — before someone else tells it for us, or worse, twists it against us.