By Our Diplomatic
Correspondent
ISLAMABAD: Foreign Office spokesperson Zahid Hafeez Chaudhri Thursday slammed India’s smear campaign against Pakistan, reminding the world that New Delhi was planning a false flag operation against Islamabad.
Pakistan has time and again hinted at New Delhi’s designs to conduct a false flag operation to attack Pakistan in a bid to divert attention away from its internal problems and issues. Citing the recent report by EU DisinfoLab, Chaudhri, addressing a press conference, said that the research backs Pakistan’s position against India and that all relevant facts were stated in it.
“India failed to tarnish Pakistan’s reputation despite such moves. This propaganda is a part of India’s campaign against Pakistan,” the spokesperson noted.
He urged India to focus on its problems instead of working on instigating instability in the region. “The biases and discriminatory laws against minorities in India are in front of the world.”
Similarly, reacting to the development, Minister for Foreign Affairs Shah Mahmood Qureshi said that it came as not surprise that the disinformation campaign was backed by India. “15 yr global disinfo campaign designed in attempt to discredit [Pakistan] internationally & influence global decision making. ‘Incredible [India]’, powered by fascist ideals & disinfo that even puts Goebbels to shame,” he added.
The disinformation campaign: More than 750 Indian backed websites covering over 119 countries have been operational for about 15 years with the sole purpose of undermining Pakistan within the European Union and United Nations, a report on investigative research conducted by the EU DisinfoLab revealed on Wednesday.
The operation has been given a name the Indian Chronicles. EU DisinfoLab’s investigation reveals that the Srivastava Group backed the operation, while a leading Indian news agency Asian News International (commonly known as ANI) was used to boost it. This campaign started in 2005 and is still functional. India’s aim? To discredit countries in conflict with it, with a focus on Pakistan and to some extent, China. The EU DisinfoLab highlighted the operation’s long-term objectives, which included promoting content against Pakistan and China and to consolidate power for India at international forums such as the EU and UN.
To pursue their objective, the operation appeared to support minorities, human rights NGOs, and think-tanks. It also created an illusion of institutional support from European institutions to these minority groups against Pakistan and China. At the United Nations’ Human Rights Council, the operation was used to arrange side-events and demonstrations in support of minority rights, impersonate extinguished UN-accredited NGOs and use speaking slots reserved to various NGOs whose original missions seem unrelated.
