Smoke and sonars: Pak Navy's doctored delusions against India's maritime dominance

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 maneuvers during Operation Sindoor.

- ARITRA BANERJEE 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.