India took time to expose Pakistan’s half-truths, lies

New Delhi: India may have carried out a daring air strike across the Line of Control (LoC) and shot down a Pakistan Air Force (PAF) F-16 fighter jet, but it ceded the ground to the neighbouring country on information warfare front.

Two days after Pakistan’s Inter Services Public Relations (ISPR) gave misleading details about the chain of events, India took it’s own time to call Pakistan’s bluff.

Immediately after the Indian Air Force air strike in Balakot across the LoC in the wee hours of Tuesday, Pakistan flew journalists to the alleged site to challenge the Indian version of events.

Pakistan also refused to accept that it had lost an F-16 and released false pictures to claim it had shot down two Indian fighter jets, capturing two pilots.

The disinformation led to the creation of a narrative that was far away from facts. The Indian side responded only on Thursday to share operational details for the first time.

The tri-service media briefing was postponed by more than two hours because by then the scenario had totally changed, with Pakistan announcing to release captured IAF pilot Wing Commander Varthaman Abhinandan on Friday.

In fact, the news about a possible easing of tension in the subcontinent was broken by none other than US President Donald Trump, indicating Washington worked behind the scenes to diffuse the tense situation, forcing a climbdown.

Published on: Feb 28, 2019 at 21:42 IST

IANS