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Islamabad: India\u2019s defence communication system is not an independent or neutral public information structure. Rather, it is a state-sponsored, organized militarized propaganda network led by the Directorate of Public Relations (DPR). This system controls narratives at home and abroad through defence think tanks, digital and social media networks, international PR campaigns, and information warfare operations.<\/p>\n
According to Kashmir Media Service, the DPR operates under the Department of Defence (DoD) of India\u2019s Ministry of Defence (MoD) and is headquartered in New Delhi and is led by an Additional Director General (Strategic Communication), who also serves as the MoD\u2019s Principal Defence Spokesperson.<\/p>\n
In recent years, this role has been elevated to a central pillar of military information warfare, with officers such as Major General Sandeep S. Sharma (Shadra) playing prominent roles and being closely associated with India\u2019s military information warfare doctrine.<\/p>\n
Organisational Structure and Manpower<\/p>\n
The DPR\u2019s structure is unusually large and overtly militarized with approximately 25 regional offices across India and more than 10,000 personnel, including journalists, PR officers, digital specialists, media analysts, and intelligence support staff.<\/p>\n
It is considered South Asia\u2019s largest state-run propaganda structure, operating with virtually no effective parliamentary or public oversight.<\/p>\n
DPR Operational Activities: Full Spectrum<\/p>\n
(A) Domestic Media Operations
\n\u2022 Defence press releases, briefings, and interviews
\n\u2022 Publication of Sainik Samachar and other military journals
\n\u2022 Photo and video documentation of military exercises and operations
\n\u2022 Press tours and media facilitation
\n\u2022 National broadcast campaigns in coordination with the Ministry of Information & Broadcasting (I&B)<\/p>\n
(B) Digital and Social Media Operations
\n\u2022 Official DPR accounts on X\/Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, and Telegram
\n\u2022 Graphics, videos, and copywriting
\n\u2022 Paid promotions and influencer campaigns
\n\u2022 Engagement with domestic and foreign digital influencers
\n\u2022 Digital monitoring, analytics, and audience engagement<\/p>\n
(C) International Media and Regional Outreach
\n\u2022 Hosting of foreign journalists and delegations
\n\u2022 Overseas paid advertorials and media placements
\n\u2022 Targeted regional campaigns in:
\nPakistan, Afghanistan, Nepal, Bangladesh, Maldives
\n\u2022 International digital campaigns in English
\n\u2022 Participation in global defence exhibitions and conferences<\/p>\n
(D) Strategic Communication and Information Warfare
\n\u2022 Monitoring of adversarial states and media narratives
\n\u2022 Information warfare under the label of \u201ccounter-disinformation\u201d
\n\u2022 Targeted messaging for domestic and foreign audiences
\n\u2022 Special propaganda campaigns (Defence Day, recruitment drives, national events)<\/p>\n
(E) Military Exercise Video Production
\n\u2022 Professional video teams, actors, drones, CGI, and editing facilities
\n\u2022 Filming of Army, Navy, and Air Force exercises
\n\u2022 Content produced for domestic and international audiences<\/p>\n
DPR and Defence Think Tanks: Full Budget Disclosure<\/p>\n
Total Combined Annual Budget
\n\u2022 Rs 2,634 crore
\n\u2022 PKR 8,161 crore
\n\u2022 USD $313.5 million<\/p>\n
This amount is estimated to be allocated to DPR and defence think tanks from the MoD civil budget of \u20b925,963 crore (FY 2024\u201325), based on Gemini AI estimates.<\/p>\n
Detailed DPR Budget Breakdown
\n\u2022 Rs 1,490 crore \u2192 Central HQ + 25 regional offices + MoD\/I&B media coordination
\n\u2022 Rs 85 crore \u2192 Digital & social media campaigns \/ influencers
\n\u2022 Rs 455 crore \u2192 Reporters, PR representatives, intelligence staff
\n\u2022 Rs 100 crore \u2192 Military exercise video production \/ actors \/ CGI
\n\u2022 Rs 80 crore \u2192 Information warfare and strategic messaging
\n\u2022 Rs 77 crore \u2192 International PR \/ foreign media
\n\u2022 Rs 62 crore \u2192 Regional outreach (Pakistan, Afghanistan, Nepal, Bangladesh, Maldives)
\n\u2022 Rs 150 crore \u2192 Overheads and operational contingencies
\n\u2022 Rs 35 crore \u2192 Special propaganda campaigns
\n\u2022 Rs 30 crore \u2192 Small media houses \/ miscellaneous expenses
\nTotal DPR extended budget: \u20b92,564 crore (USD $305 million)<\/p>\n
Defence Think Tanks: Intellectual and Ideological Enforcement
\n\u2022 IDSA \u2192 \u20b925 crore
\n\u2022 CLAWS \u2192 \u20b915 crore
\n\u2022 CAPS \u2192 \u20b912 crore
\n\u2022 NMF \u2192 \u20b910 crore
\n\u2022 Other institutions \u2192 \u20b98 crore<\/p>\n
Total think tank budget: \u20b970 crore (USD $8.5 million)
\nThese institutions provide:
\n\u2022 Strategic research and policy analysis
\n\u2022 Journals, policy briefs, and monographs
\n\u2022 Seminars, workshops, and war-gaming
\n\u2022 Direct advisory support to the MoD and armed forces<\/p>\n
Conclusion: What Is the Reality?
\nWhat India presents as \u201cpublic information\u201d and \u201cstrategic communication\u201d is, in fact, state-funded, organized perception management.<\/p>\n
By spending Rs 2,634 crore annually, India operates a system that:
\n\u2022 Controls public opinion
\n\u2022 Suppresses dissenting voices
\n\u2022 Interferes in the narratives of neighbouring countries
\n\u2022 Provides intellectual and moral justification for militarization<\/p>\n
This is not merely public relations \u2014 it is a full-scale information warfare machine.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Islamabad: India\u2019s defence communication system is not an independent or neutral public information structure. Rather, it is a state-sponsored, organized militarized propaganda network led by the Directorate of Public Relations (DPR). This system controls narratives at home and abroad through defence think tanks, digital and social media networks, international PR campaigns, and information warfare operations. …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":194615,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-194614","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-india"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/kmsnews.org\/kms\/assests\/2026\/02\/Screenshot-2026-02-10-at-5.44.38-PM.png","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kmsnews.org\/kms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/194614","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kmsnews.org\/kms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kmsnews.org\/kms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kmsnews.org\/kms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kmsnews.org\/kms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=194614"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/kmsnews.org\/kms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/194614\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":194616,"href":"https:\/\/kmsnews.org\/kms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/194614\/revisions\/194616"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kmsnews.org\/kms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/194615"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kmsnews.org\/kms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=194614"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kmsnews.org\/kms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=194614"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kmsnews.org\/kms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=194614"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}