Indian Information Warfare and The BLA Attack

Tooba Saulat, Ayesha Ansar

On Tuesday the 11th of March, a train Jaffer Express travelled from Quetta towards Peshawar. .The train had around 440 passengers including military personnel. On route the train was hijacked by Balochistan Liberation Army, near Sibi City. The BLA gave an ultimatum of 48 hours to release Baloch prisoners, after which they would start killing the hostages.

On Wednesday the Pakistan Army had conducted an operation that killed all 33 BLA fighters and freed the hostages. There were 21 civilian deaths and around 4 paramilitary officers were martyred, Pakistan army successfully rescued 346 hijacked passengers during the operation. Military and the political leadership of Pakistan has emphasised that as the incident was unfolding, Indian support for the terrorists by Indian media outlets through information warfare was evident.

Indian media’s use of AI-generated content and outdated footage amplified disinformation during the BLA train hijacking in Balochistan.

In the 21st century the traditional notion of warfare has completely changed, and information warfare has become an easy and effective method to inflict damage against one’s enemy. Information Warfare (IW) involves the use and management of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) in pursuit of a competitive advantage over an opponent and is intricately linked to psychological warfare.

Although corporations, political parties etc. mostly use information warfare, the most damaging use is made by the anti-state elements, terrorist organizations and nation-states against other nations through non-governmental organizations (NGOS) or other local support elements. Using information warfare as one of the components of its hybrid warfare against Pakistan, India has been fueling ethnic conflicts in Pakistan.

Being an adversary, it has been exploiting the vulnerabilities that exist in Pakistan, which include supporting the militant groups in Balochistan and instigating instability in the country via hybrid warfare tactics, including misinformation campaigns. Indian nexus for involvement in creating a fiasco in Balochistan was once again observed when militants belonging to BLA hijacked the train and the sensationalized media briefing was done by Indian media channels. 

The DG ISPR while interacting with the media on Friday emphasized that India has been involved in supporting separatists groups and spreading disinformation to incite Balochis against the Pakistani government. The mainstream Indian media has been proliferating disinformation through AI images, fake images, and media released by the terrorist group to form a narrative that benefits their objectives.

DG ISPR highlighted the ongoing information warfare propagated by Indian mainstream media while the inhumane attack was being carried out by their perpetrators. Indian mainstream media had been reporting the incident in a glorified manner to sensationalize the incident. In addition to glorified reporting, Indian media could be seen using AI-generated images, thereby creating perceptions based on misinformation.

Pakistan’s military rescued 346 hostages in a successful operation against BLA militants near Sibi City.

Only if the blatant usage of AI-generated images was not enough, Indian mainstream media could be seen using videos from social media platforms that had nothing to do with the horrific incident. Indian efforts in the information warfare can be observed by the search engine optimized content Indian media is producing in a massive number, especially on social media platforms like YouTube. 

Multiple Indian news outlets including CNBC and India Today have been spreading false information regarding the incident. CNBC used a video that had been disclosed by the terrorist group for propaganda purposes. Similarly, India Today was using outdated and fake videos of the event to report the incident. Another Indian channel, CNN, News18, used remarks that were void of credibility and humanity.  The journalist, while reporting the incident used the words “this is one episode that has brought the entire Pakistani army on its knees”.

The role of India in promoting insurgencies and violence in Balochistan has been established for a long time especially after Kulbhushan Yadav was arrested for supporting separatists groups in the region. As warfare keeps evolving India is using information warfare to build its narrative in promoting chaos and violence. This form of war journalism is strategically used by Indian media outlets to dehumanise Pakistan and its military while also defaming Pakistan in the international community. 

India once again has severed the national security of Pakistan by aiding the internationally recognised terrorist group. The incident is not the first of its kind by this adversary of Pakistan, nevertheless, such actions are outrageous as per international laws.

India’s involvement in supporting separatist elements in Balochistan violates international laws and the UN Charter on state sovereignty.

The United Nations charter on external interference declares the inadmissibility of intervention in the domestic affairs of states and the protection of their independence and sovereignty, hence condemning external interference in a state’s affairs. Following the continuous violations of India, the UN should strongly sanction Indian designs for interference so its malicious ambitions of destabilising Pakistan will be deterred.