Perhaps the most revealing part of Pakistan’s narrative is what it omits. There was no mention of counter-deployments, patrol interceptions, or even routine naval manoeuvres during Operation Sindoor.
NEW DELHI: When Vice Admiral Raja Rab Nawaz, the Deputy Chief of Naval Staff (Operations), stood before the press in Islamabad on May 11, he projected confidence. The Pakistan Navy, he claimed, had successfully defended the nation’s maritime frontiers, tracked the Indian Navy’s movements in real time, and was ready to launch a devastating counterstrike if provoked. He even displayed a photograph of Pakistan’s naval assets—two warships, three aircraft, and a lurking submarine—to back his assertion of seaborne readiness.
However, within days, open-source analysis and independent media investigations told a different story. The image, it turned out, was doctored. The original photograph, dating back over a year, depicted three surface warships and three aircraft. The submarine, meant to add depth and menace to the composition, was inserted digitally. The fabrication was neither incidental nor harmless. It was presented during a high-level military briefing as visual evidence of operational strength and crumbled under the weight of basic verification.
This wasn’t just an embarrassment for the Pakistan Navy. It was a moment of reckoning—an unintended confession that beneath the loud declarations of deterrence and discipline, there were cracks in credibility that even Photoshop couldn’t fix.
OCEAN OF NARRATIVES BY A BROWN WATER NAVY
In his address, VAdm. Nawaz built a sweeping narrative of Pakistani maritime vigilance: submarines deployed to track Indian carrier movements, air and naval assets on “cockpit readiness,” coordination with the Pakistan Air Force and Army, and anti-submarine operations in full swing. He accused India of cowardice, claiming that INS Vikrant—India’s new-generation aircraft carrier—retreated to the safety of Mumbai’s coastline out of fear of retaliation. According to him, the Indian Navy never posed a real threat. Yet facts on water tell a starker truth.
On May 6-7, 2025, the Indian Navy launched Operation Sindoor—a coordinated show of maritime strength in response to the April 22 Pahalgam terror attack that killed 26 civilians, including foreign nationals. The Indian Navy’s posture was neither ambiguous nor defensive. It mobilised a 36-ship armada, including INS Vikrant, destroyers armed with BrahMos missiles, fleet tankers, and submarine assets, all deployed within strike range of Karachi Port and the Makran coast.
P-8I Poseidon aircraft, Heron UAVS, and satellite-based platforms conducted real-time surveillance, granting India full-spectrum maritime domain awareness. The carrier group was not only in a position to strike but also enforced a de facto blockade of Pakistan’s primary naval and commercial gateway.
What followed was telling: Pakistan Navy warships remained docked, submarine movements were undetected, and Pakistani maritime traffic visibly thinned. Pakistan’s NAVAREA alerts and NOTAMs pointed to the scale of the Indian operation and the vulnerability it triggered. If this were deterrence, India achieved it without a shot being fired.
MIRAGE OF MARITIME MIGHT
The doctored image presented by Vice Admiral Nawaz wasn’t merely a lapse in judgment. It was symptomatic of a larger pattern—an overreliance on perception management to mask strategic inertia. This is not the first time Pakistan has attempted to spin a tactical setback into a narrative of resilience. But doing so at the highest levels of military command, with manipulated visuals, is more than propaganda—it is an indictment of how divorced the narrative has become from capability.
The irony is sharp. At a time when India demonstrated indigenous maritime might through INS Vikrant, validated the effectiveness of its sea-denial doctrines, and exercised joint-force integration with the Army and Air Force, Pakistan’s navy was left faking images to prove it had a seat at the table.
Even the portrayal of INS Vikrant as an “overhyped” carrier misses the mark. While it may not yet rival American supercarriers in terms of tonnage or aircraft capacity, Vikrant is no token vessel. It is a domestically built, combat-capable platform designed for precisely the kind of regional dominance India displayed during Operation Sindoor.
Its escorting ships and missile-equipped destroyers provided both offensive teeth and defensive cover. Its aircraft, sensors, and strike coordination proved fully operational. The Indian Navy did not retreat—it repositioned as per mission protocols, having already enforced strategic pressure.
INACTION FRAMED AS STRATEGY
Perhaps the most revealing part of Pakistan’s narrative is what it omits. There was no mention of counter-deployments, patrol interceptions, or even routine naval manoeuvres during Operation Sindoor. Despite claiming high-alert status and inter-service synergy, not a single Pakistani vessel challenged the Indian carrier group, nor did any submarine sortie make contact. The silence of Pakistan’s fleet during India’s most significant maritime posture since 1971 and 1999 is difficult to interpret as anything but paralysis.
Yet the official line claims this was by design. That restraint was strategic. The Indian Navy, numerically superior and technically advanced, posed no real threat. The Pakistani forces were ready, but magnanimously declined escalation. If that were true, there would be no need to manufacture photographic evidence.
NARRATIVE COLLAPSING UNDER ITS OWN WEIGHT
The cracks within the ISPR’s tightly controlled narrative machine are widening. When the military’s operational arms rely on image manipulation to sustain public confidence, it suggests something deeper: a disconnect between claimed deterrence and actual capability.
Using a doctored image during a tri-service press conference is not just a tactical blunder—it raises strategic questions. Was the naval leadership unaware of the fabrication? Or was it deemed necessary to feed a domestic audience rattled by the clear superiority of India’s military response? Either way, the fallout is severe. A navy cannot bluff credibility, especially in an age where open-source intelligence and real-time satellite tracking can debunk such theatrics in hours.
THE WATERS AHEAD
India’s Operation Sindoor has reaffirmed its blue-water ambitions and exposed the fragility of Pakistan’s naval doctrine. More importantly, it has shown that maritime deterrence in the Indo-Pacific is no longer a function of mere posture—it is a measure of transparency, jointness, and readiness.
While India continues to invest in platforms, doctrines, and integrated capabilities, Pakistan is investing in narrative scaffolding, propped up by staged visuals and rhetorical bravado. But even the best digital edits can’t mask a fleet that refuses to sail out.
Vice Admiral Nawaz concluded his speech: “Next time you think of the Pakistan Navy, remember our actions.” The world just did. And they were caught on screen—pixel by pixel, frame by falsity.
* Aritra Banerjee is a defence, foreign affairs & aerospace journalist, co-author of the book “The Indian Navy @75: Reminiscing the Voyage”.