RAWALPINDI: Pakistan’s military on Wednesday sharply criticized India’s armed forces for what it described as “delusional, fabricated and provocative propaganda” aimed at influencing upcoming state elections in Bihar and West Bengal.
“—-in the run up to elections in Bihar and West Bengal, Indian military leadership has started parroting the same delusional, fabricated and provocative propaganda that they regurgitate before every state election in India,” Pakistan military media wing, Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said in a strongly worded statement.
ISPR said it was “saddened to see the military leadership of a nuclear-armed country issuing irresponsible statements under immense political pressure.”
It accused India’s army of feeding “lies to the Indian public and international audience,” calling such tactics “a laughing stock” among professional militaries.
“Any professional soldier would know that unnecessary chest-thumping and unwarranted statements might initiate a cycle of jingoism and lead to serious consequences for peace and stability in South Asia,” the statement warned.
Marka-e-Haq’ and the Battle of Narratives
The ISPR said Indian leaders were “trying to mould history” by spreading false accounts of the May 2025 conflict — known in Pakistan as Marka-e-Haq — in which Islamabad claims to have “decisively beaten” Indian forces. It said India’s “Bollywood-style scripts” cannot erase the reality of the confrontation or Pakistan’s “swift and resolute” response during the conflict.
“The Indian Army and political leadership have not reconciled with the idea that they were decisively beaten,” the statement said. “The world now recognises India as the true face of cross-border terrorism and the epicentre of regional instability, bent upon adventurism and hegemonism.”
The ISPR reaffirmed that Pakistan’s armed forces remain “fully capable and committed to defend every inch of our territory,” warning that any act of aggression would meet “a swift, resolute and intense response that will be remembered by posterity.”
Post-War Narratives and Political Optics
The latest exchange comes five months after the Marka-e-Haq conflict — a brief but intense missile and drone confrontation between the two nuclear-armed neighbours in May 2025.
The clashes, triggered by India’s Operation Sindoor and Pakistan’s counter-strikes under Operation Bunyan-um-Marsoos, ended with a ceasefire on May 10.
Since then, analysts say, Indian side continued to engage in a “war of narratives” aimed at shaping domestic and international opinion. ISPR accuses New Delhi of weaponising misinformation and reviving war rhetoric to rally nationalist sentiment ahead of state elections.
While existing border communication channels remain active to avoid future escalations, Pakistan insists that India’s “false narratives” and “manufactured heroics” for electoral gain risk undermining the fragile calm — and further eroding trust between the two neighbours.
