India-Pakistan conflict a war of ‘narratives’, with Chinese arms playing part

Millions of Pakistanis, riled up by government vows of revenge which social media pundits predicted were imminent, spent a tense night waiting for a second round of aerial clashes with India.

The tension was palpable as the witching hour approached.

At around 11pm on Wednesday, Pakistani military-linked social media accounts put out alerts claiming warplanes on both sides had taken off.

Revenge for India’s air strikes the previous night was nigh, they vowed, echoing a wartime speech made by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and remarks by the military’s chief spokesman Lieutenant General Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry earlier in the evening.

Indian journalists joined the fray at around 1am on Thursday, posting claims that another round of Indian missile strikes was under way on Sialkot, a garrison city near the border otherwise renowned for producing footballs for the Fifa World Cup.

Nerves jangled as police squads forced shopkeepers in Islamabad to close early and gated suburban communities near military installations instituted a power blackout.