This article originally appeared at: https://newsable.asianetnews.com/world/truth-over-tides-debuking-pakistan-5-fabricated-narratives-about-indian-navy-snt/articleshow-wxxaz16
In the high-stakes arena of South Asian maritime geopolitics, narratives are often weaponised as effectively as missiles. Over the past few years, Pakistan has made repeated attempts to distort the reality of Indian naval capabilities and operations through calculated misinformation, propaganda videos, and speculative media narratives. These unanchored claims not only mislead their domestic audience but also aim to discredit India’s legitimate maritime posture in the region.
Let’s set the record straight by systematically debunking these claims, highlighting verified facts, and showcasing how Pakistan’s narrative machinery is built more on perception warfare than maritime strength.
Claim 1: “The Indian Navy lacks operational readiness and is reactionary.”
Pakistan has repeatedly claimed that India’s naval response is “reactionary” and not structured for proactive maritime control. This narrative was pushed aggressively after India increased its surveillance operations in the Arabian Sea following Houthi-linked maritime disruptions and during rising tensions in the Persian Gulf.
Fact-check: The Indian Navy has been deploying mission-ready ships in all three oceanic commands continuously, maintaining a 24/7 watch on India’s maritime interests. The Mission-Based Deployment (MBD) framework ensures presence in all critical choke points—from the Gulf of Aden and Strait of Hormuz to the Malacca Strait. The success of anti-piracy operations, rapid evacuation missions in Sudan (Operation Kaveri), and escort missions in the Red Sea stand testimony to this.
Moreover, the Navy’s ability to undertake simultaneous operations across the Indian Ocean Region (IOR), backed by real-time data from indigenous surveillance platforms like GSAT-7 and P-8I aircraft, speaks volumes of its proactive, not reactive, posture.
Reality: The India Navy’s unmatched preparedness and proactive posture are the owner’s pride and the neighbour’s envy.
Claim 2: “India’s Navy is politically influenced and not a neutral institution.”
In recent months, Pakistan’s state-backed commentators have begun linking Indian naval operations with political objectives, accusing the force of being “an extension of regime ambitions.” This tactic attempts to tarnish the credibility of a disciplined and constitutionally governed military institution.
Fact-check: The Indian Navy has repeatedly demonstrated its apolitical ethos. It does not engage in domestic political commentary or partisanship. Key operations, whether humanitarian (like aid to Madagascar), combat-ready (like Exercise TROPEX), or diplomatic (like MILAN 2024), are executed with professionalism and neutrality. The Navy’s multi-faith, multi-ethnic composition also reinforces its institutional impartiality, unlike Pakistan’s military structure, which has been criticised even internally for a lack of ethnic representation and politicisation.
Reality: The Indian Navy is the world’s most apolitical, professional, constitutionally bound force.
Claim 3: “Pakistan has technological parity with India in naval warfare.”
Through inflated statistics and selective showmanship, such as promoting its Hangor-class submarines or its Turkish MILGEM warships, Pakistan presents an illusion of parity with the Indian Navy.
Fact-check: India fields a blue-water navy with nuclear-powered submarines (INS Arihant), aircraft carriers (INS Vikramaditya and INS Vikrant), and a vast satellite-supported maritime domain awareness network. India’s indigenous shipbuilding capability, including delivery of advanced platforms like the Visakhapatnam-class destroyers and Kalvari-class submarines, is leagues ahead of Pakistan’s largely import-dependent navy.
Pakistan’s fleet remains limited in sea endurance, underwater warfare capability, and network-centric warfare systems. Furthermore, India’s successful test of hypersonic anti-ship missile systems and indigenous combat UAVs further widens this technological divide.
Reality: The capability and technological gap between the Indian Navy and its Pakistan counterpart is ever growing and not closing anytime in the future.
Claim 4: “Indian Navy’s regional presence is aggressive and destabilising.”
Pakistan has sought to project India’s growing naval footprint, particularly in the Indo-Pacific, as a sign of “regional dominance.” This claim tries to paint a picture of Indian aggression rather than cooperation.
Fact-check: India’s naval outreach is recognised internationally for its stabilising influence. Through coordinated patrols (CORPATs), bilateral exercises (like AUSINDEX with Australia, SIMBEX with Singapore), and multilateral initiatives (like RIMPAC and Exercise Malabar), India builds security partnerships. The Indian Navy is often the first responder in times of regional crises, be it tsunamis, oil spills, or conflict evacuations.
India is also a founding member of the Indian Ocean Naval Symposium (IONS), promoting dialogue and maritime cooperation among littoral states. In contrast, Pakistan’s regional maritime engagements remain limited, often politically framed and lacking interoperability.
Reality: The Indian Navy is a credible stabilising force and trusted partner for all other navies in the Indo-Pacific. Pakistan Navy can never aspire to achieve this status ever.
Claim 5: “India suppresses freedom of navigation.”
Pakistan has insinuated that the Indian Navy’s close monitoring of shipping lanes is an attempt to control maritime traffic. This is far from the truth.
Fact-check: India is a signatory to the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) and supports freedom of navigation in international waters. Its operations in the Strait of Malacca, Arabian Sea, and Gulf of Aden are carried out under international maritime law and in coordination with like-minded navies, such as the US Navy’s Seventh Fleet and the French Navy’s ALINDIEN command.
Contrarily, Pakistan has provided naval docking facilities to Chinese military vessels at Gwadar and Karachi, increasing opacity and raising concerns over transparency and surveillance in the Arabian Sea.
Reality: The Indian Navy always, and ever willingly, upholds maritime norms.
Anchored in Facts, Not Fiction
Pakistan’s repeated attempts to malign the Indian Navy through falsehoods and selective storytelling reflect a broader strategy of perception warfare. These tactics may stir short-term domestic support, but they cannot alter the region’s geopolitical realities. The Indian Navy’s professionalism, technological edge, and cooperative security initiatives continue to command global respect.
In the turbulent waters of information warfare, India’s naval narrative is anchored firmly in truth. And truth, unlike propaganda, does not drift.
