New Delhi: Tom Cooper, renowned Austrian aerial warfare analyst and historian who hailed Operation Sindoor as a success, has hit out at India’s PR machinery and compared it to Pakistan’s, which he said is very proactive. In a post on social media, he cited the experience of a military history author from Germany who wanted to attend the farewell ceremony of the MiG-21 aircraft last week in India and the roadblocks he faced.
“Time and again, the last few months, I’ve been asked the question—especially by journalists and contacts in India: …and, Tom, why is Pakistan enjoying such good PR in the West?
“After the latest experience, cannot but conclude: because it has got much better PR. Because the country and its armed forces are investing so much into PR,” Cooper wrote on Facebook.
Talking about the retirement of the MiG-21 from operational service, he said it might appear as “no big deal”, but it should be kept in mind that the aircraft type was the backbone of the Indian Air Force (IAF) for almost all of its 62 years of operational service.
“It’s first supersonic jet, the first equipped with radar, the first equipped with guided air-to-air missiles… and also an ‘F-104 Starfighter-killer’ of the 1971 War with Pakistan. Moreover, because it was manufactured by Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) under licence, it played a crucial role in the build-up of the nation’s aerospace industry, too. Thus, the retirement ceremony was a ‘big deal’ of sort. At least at national level,” he wrote.
And then came to the PR part, stating “please pay attention…”
“I hope he’s not going to find it ‘too indiscreet’, but: Holger Müller, German researcher of the MiG-21—author of at least a dozen of related books—decided to travel to India (on his own, i.e. at his own expense) to be there at the retirement ceremony. Correspondingly, he’s went the official way: contacted India’s embassy in Berlin, the Air Attache there, requested permission to attend etc. And, he did so on time: well in advance, so that everybody involved on India’s side has had enough time to run background checks on him, etc,” Cooper wrote.
He admitted he had followed the development of this affair “only from afar”, but one thing was sure: “the first reaction of the embassy in Berlin was negative (if there was any).”
“…which is making absolutely no sense. After all, Holger didn’t ask to, say, ‘witness daily operations by super-turbo-secret Rafales’ or something, but a RETIREMENT CEREMONY of, meanwhile, a hopelessly outdated fighter jet.”
“Now, I can’t say the following was ‘decisive’. I do not know if it was. But, eventually, I’ve ended putting him in touch with contacts in India, and these started ‘pulling strings’,” Cooper added.
“Contacting the top brass, pleading for this to grant its permissions, forward the same to the embassy in Berlin… ultimately, yes, Holger has got his official permission, but: only in the last moment. As he was at Frankfurt International, in the process of embarking the airliner to New Delhi…”
According to Cooper, just for comparison, had this been staged in Pakistan, “you can all bet your annual income that ‘The Establishment’ in Islamabad (the actual group of people running that country) would have paid foreign journos to come to Pakistan, tour them around bases, take photos, and run interviews with veteran PAF (Pakistan Air Force) pilots, while the PAF would paint entire jets in green with white star and crescent, etc.”
He took a dig at the IAF saying that it was good that the force did not “group-block all the foreign journos from attending”.
“Sounds silly? Yes, it’s silly. It’s silly alone to come to the idea to waste time and money with painting combat jets in national colours. And, no doubt, many non-involved people are going to find it silly to stage a retirement ceremony for any kind of aircraft (and people flying them).”
“But, that’s not the point. The point is this: if India – and especially the Indian Air Force – can’t do at least this much to improve its own PR in ‘the West’…
“Well, dear Indians: please, do not wonder any more if the Pakistanis—and British journos paid by Islamabad—have it easy to spread their fantasies about ‘4:0’, ‘6:0’… ahem… meanwhile it’s ‘8:0’ – and nobody in ‘the West’ cares when India gets hit by yet another terror attack of Pakistan-supported Jihadism,” Cooper said in his post.
(Edited by Nida Fatima Siddiqui)
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