Hybrid Warfare Between India And Pakistan After Pulwama Attack

Abstract

The nature of the hybrid warfare between India and Pakistan following the Pulwama attack in 2019, was a turning point in the history of traditional deterrence changing to more aggressive hybrid strategies of disinformation campaigns, diplomatic blackmail, cyber-attacks, and psychological warfare. It presents the analysis of official statements, media narratives, policy documents as well as secondary literature based on a qualitative research design to evaluate the ways in which the two states used hybrid tools to influence domestic and international perceptions. It also explains that the post Pulwama policy was aimed at trying to isolate Pakistan diplomatically and delegitimize it by using narrative warfare and Pakistan countered with diplomatic action, strategic restraint, and narrative construction. The results point to the fact that hybrid warfare has reduced the barricade of conflict escalation in South Asia to heighten instability in the delicate nuclear setting.