NARRATIVES OF POWER AND LEGITIMACY: A CRITICAL DISCOURSE ANALYSIS OF LEADERSHIP RHETORIC IN THE 2025 PAK-INDIA CONFLICT

Abstract

The study accounts for the discourses employed by Pakistan's Director General of Inter-Services Public Relations (DG-ISPR) Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and U.S. President Donald Trump during the India-Pakistan conflict of 2025. Based on Teun A. van Dijk's socio-cognitive model, this analysis explores the construction of narratives that served to justify the leaders' own actions, delegitimize the actions of the opposing parties, and influence public perception. Ultimately, it shows how the various actors strategically manipulated language to construct national identities, vindicate military action, and shape geopolitical agency. Future research may be devoted to the question of discourses of DG-ISPR, Modi, and U.S. leadership through time especially in the post-conflict narratives.