General Dwivedi underscored how public perception can be shaped through what he called a “narrative management system.”
He said that in Pakistan, the outcome of conflicts with India is sometimes measured less by battlefield results and more by symbolic gestures such as high-profile military promotions.
“Victory is in the mind… it’s always in the mind,” General Dwivedi remarked.
“You ask a Pakistani whether you lost or won, he will say, ‘My chief has become Field Marshal, so we must have won,’” he said.
The Army Chief’s comments came in reference to Operation Sindoor, a recent India-Pakistan military confrontation. He suggested that Pakistan’s leadership had used Munir’s elevation in rank to project a sense of victory, regardless of the actual strategic outcome.