Pakistan, Aug. 7 -- Earlier this week, Indian television screens lit up with the familiar choreography of crisis: tickered "alerts," studio generals, and ominous talk of Pakistani ceasefire violations. Hours of airtime were devoted to dissecting a cross-border exchange that, according to the Indian Army's own admission, never occurred. The retraction came quietly long after the fiction had been aired, amplified, and absorbed.

At first glance, this may seem like a minor media misfire. But the pattern reveals something far more deliberate. With the Modi government under domestic pressure and its Operation Sindoor campaign attracting criticism, invoking Pakistan offers a tested formula for deflection. There appears to be no need for evidenc...