Analysing the Relevance of Kautilya’s Six-Fold Ways (Shadgun Siddhant) with Respect to Ongoing Global Information Warfare: A Study on Indian News Media Coverage of Ukraine-Russia Crisis
Keywords:
Indian knowledge system, Global warfare, Kautilya’s 6-fold policy, Rhetorical textual analysis, Strategic planning, Information Warfare, Ukraine- Russia war, Perception.Abstract
The knowledge system has always been the base of any questions that have been raised in any arena of conflict. In the recent global scenario of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and ongoing conflict, news media has served as a battle ground for the news industry to spread competing narratives about the war and portray the scenario by professionals with the power of words. Future is not just about conventional warfare but is also about information and perception warfare. Impacts of the latter are more severe yet covert for a long period of time. This research paper attempts to find out the preparedness and understanding of strategic thinking with reference to the Shadgun Siddhant (six-fold Siddhant) of Kautilya in the Indian News Media outlets with respect to the Ukraine-Russia crisis. News media has an important role to play in shaping, formulating, and manipulating public opinion which is necessary for any such struggle. With respect to Ukraine– Russia war this seems more evident hence considering the ever-evolving nature of the crisis, researchers in this paper would adopt a qualitative methodology and descriptively study using rhetorical analysis of the news media content and their potential adaptation of the 6-Fold Policy while dealing with the global information warfare and manipulative perceptions. The researchers’ findings have analyzed the position of India and the news (information) unfolded by the experts to give a rhetorical perspective on the war. The paper draws the conclusion of how authors/experts strategically tweak the news, control perception, and protect its national interest.
