NEW DELHI: An international think tank on Tuesday released a research policy paper warning that the India-Pakistan conflict in May last year was hit by AI-generated disinformation and could have “easily spiralled” into an extended confrontation, with the possibility of a direct nuclear clash between the two neighbours.
Sweden-based Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) published the paper, titled “Addressing Multi-Domain Nuclear Escalation Risk”, on its website. The study analyses recent conflicts involving India-Pakistan, Israel’s operations involving Iran and the Russia-Ukraine war.
Referring to the May 2025 India-Pakistan crisis, the paper said artificial intelligence-enabled disinformation distorted battlefield perceptions. “AI-enabled disinformation could easily have spiralled into an extended conflict, with direct nuclear confrontation between India and Pakistan a possibility,” it said.
The report warned that similar AI-driven disinformation campaigns in future crises could more effectively obscure battlefield realities and disrupt the strategic calculations of nuclear-armed states.
On the surge of fake content during Operation Sindoor, SIPRI described the information environment as a “carnival of sensationalism”, with artificially generated content driving false narratives of military successes and territorial gains broadcast on mainstream media outlets on both sides.
India’s military leadership had in the past stated that there was no nuclear threat during the crisis. Army Chief Gen Upendra Dwivedi said on January 13 that Pakistan’s Director General of Military Operations did not raise any nuclear threat during telephonic talks with his Indian counterpart. “As far as nuclear rhetoric is concerned, there was no discussion on the issue in the DGMO talks. Whatever nuclear rhetoric was given was by politicians in Pakistan,” he said.
Operation Sindoor was launched after Pakistan-backed terrorists carried out an attack in Pahalgam that killed 26 persons.
In post-Operation Sindoor assessments, Chief of Defence Staff Gen Anil Chauhan said the military devoted substantial resources to countering disinformation as part of a “non-contact and multi-domain” conflict that exemplifies the future of warfare.
The SIPRI paper noted that modern battlefields were increasingly defined by converging technologies and multi-domain operations extending beyond traditional land, air and sea theatres into cyber, space and information domains.