Former Indian corps commander Syed Ata Hasnain has admitted that Islamabad had defeated New Delhi in hybrid war.
“They [India] should learn from Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR),[the Pakistan military’s media wing], how to fight a “fifth-generation war”, Hasnain, a former Lieutenant General, told a British think tank.
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According to him, the ISPR had proved that media remains a highly effective tool in hybrid war, including the information conflict, in which Pakistan “showed great professional skills”.
Hasnain claimed that it’s impossible to win a traditional war on a battlefield in modern times, and that it took “even the United States” 18 years to realise the fact.
His remarks came a few days after the Pakistani Foreign Ministry stated that it has thoroughly investigated India’s dossier related to the 14 February Pulwama terror attack and has neither found any evidence of terror camps at the locations mentioned by New Delhi, nor of any person mentioned in the document that could be linked to the attack.
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“While 54 detained individuals are being investigated, no details linking them to Pulwama have been found so far. Similarly, the 22 pin locations shared by India have been examined. No such camps exist. Pakistan is willing to allow visits, on request, to these locations”, the nation's Foreign Ministry pointed out.
Last week, Pakistani President Arif Alvi accused India of having an “irresponsible” attitude and praised Islamabad’s immediate and effective response to what he described as “Indian aggression”.
“After the Pulwama attack, India blamed Pakistan without any evidence. India did not adhere to international laws and violated Pakistan's airspace,” Alvi said, referring to the 14 February attack on an Indian security convoy in the Indian-controlled area of Kashmir by Pakistan-based Islamist militants, which claimed the lives of at least 40 security personnel.
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Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM), a Pakistan-based terror group, claimed responsibility for the attack and the Indian Air Force conducted an air strike on a JeM camp inside Pakistan on 26 February; Islamabad, in turn, claimed, that IAF aircraft never targeted the camp. The standoff escalated, resulting in a 27 February dogfight between the two countries’ warplanes.
