India and Need of an Information Czar
The recent India-Pakistan clashes of 2025 resulted in a military victory for India, but it appeared that Pakistan won the narrative war.
Indians felt shortchanged and cheated. More so because we were winning but nobody was acknowledging it.
I think this is India’s 26/11 moment for our information/public relations industries. Like 26/11 led to an overhaul of our intelligence structure and breaking of silos, the same is needed for our information services.
Various departments handled the information. There were briefings by the MEA, MOD and PIB. There was no social media strategy, nor were there coordinated talking points in the media.
On the other side, DGISPR of Pakistan channelised their TV channels, reporters to provide favourable articles in the International media, and the social media army spread disinformation. They were also faster with disinformation and in claiming victory after the ceasefire. For the news media, which starts at Twitter and dies as a long-form article in The Economist, this set the narrative, and India was catching up to it.
India cannot have a DGISPR-like structure primarily because it is a civilian-led democracy, not a military-backed hybrid structure. ADGPI job is to provide technical ( unclasified) details of the operations. It doesnot have the mandate or the budget to run influence operations.
The MEA is still operating in the old world mould of only reaching out to key players in world capitals. It should expand its remit to include international news organisations and influencers to speak on India’s behalf. However, its mandate also does not include setting and controlling the narrative on social media or providing talking points to media channels.
Over the decades, the PIB has become a sarkari PR department for government schemes. It has ceded space to private news channels, who in their enthusiasm have lost credibility, so much so that even when they are reporting the correct news, it is being dismissed as fake. The PIB needs to grow more teeth.
What we need is an information Czar. This person should be in the civilian dispensation and control all aspects of information, including speed and the narrative. This person would discuss and coordinate the strategy amongst ministries and in the print, cable and social media. The focus would be both domestic and international, with the mandate to enhance the global image.
Today's newspaper is not the first draft of history, and history is not written by the victor. Social media is the first draft of history, and the one who gets the message across in the fleeting, short attention spans of social media is declared the victor. We need to back the military prowess with the ability to tell our story.