By Our Diplomatic
Correspondent
ISLAMABAD: National Security Adviser Moeed Yusuf on Wednesday shared data pertaining to anti-Pakistan social media trends that were launched between 2019 and 2021, the majority of which have been traced to India and Afghanistan.
Yusuf said that the government through analysis and data will shed light on the “information warfare” Pakistan is faced with. He said he wishes to speak of Afghanistan in particular, where the Taliban and the government are at war.
He said the government’s social media teams and think tanks have worked extensively to gather evidence that shows that social media accounts “from Afghanistan and India are being used repeatedly to malign Pakistan”.
Yusuf said that most recently a #SanctionPakistan trend spread online and it merited an investigation to see whether it was organic.
The NSA went on to say that besides this, there are efforts to blame Pakistan for all the failures that accumulated in the 20-year-long war in Afghanistan.
He said that as US troops began to withdraw from Afghanistan and the Taliban took control of cities and provincial capitals, “there is a growing narrative against Pakistan with the aim to save themselves from being blamed for their own failures”.
“And it is very unfortunate that some high level officials in the Afghan government are part of this, some of which have come forth as well,” he said.
He said “a lot of accounts have links to the state” and through India as well “a very well coordinated campaign is being run against Pakistan”.
“We will expose all these truths, not through fake news but through data and facts. We will form a narrative to tell the world what is being done with Pakistan.”
The NSA then proceeded to show a few slides, one of which was a timeline from 2019 onwards, and others, which showed how, as matters grew more intense in Afghanistan, hashtags against Pakistan popped up.
• Yusuf said there are five broad themes that can be seen in the trends:Discredit Pakistan government, and especially Pakistan Army.
• Fan sub-nationalism.
• Directly target CPEC through hybrid warfare.
• Push Pakistan into the FATF blacklist.
• Blame Pakistan for the chaos in Afghanistan.
Separately, Foreign Office Spokesperson Zahid Hafeez Chaudhri on Wednesday said all energies should be directed towards solving the Afghanistan issue instead of blaming Pakistan for it.His statement comes as the
conflict in Afghanistan intensifies, with the Taliban seizing eight cities in a week and heavy fighting continue between Afghan forces and the Taliban in Helmand and Kunduz.In a statement released earlier in the day, Chaudhri highlighted the importance of Afghanistan’s peace for Pakistan, adding that Pakistan’s sacrifices in the Afghan peace process are innumerable.
“Pakistan wants peace in Afghanistan,” Chaudhri stated.He added that the Foreign Office is ready to work with all parties to bring peace to the country and that Pakistan has “no favourites” in Afghanistan.Chaudhri further stated that the three important milestones in the Afghan peace process, The Taiban-US peace agreement, intra-Afghan talks, and agreement on rules and procedures, were all achieved by Pakistan’s cooperation.
Regarding Afghan forces, Chaudhri stated that the US Department of Defense has revealed that Afghan forces have “more modern weapons, airpower, and numbers than the Taliban.”
Chaudhri said it is very important to reflect on why the Afghanistan army is weak.Regarding the solution to the Afghan problem, Chaudhri stated that there is no military solution to the crisis in Afghanistan and that Pakistan does not support one either.Chaudhari claimed that factions from inside and outside Afghanistan are undermining the Afghan peace process, adding that the people of Afghanistan do not distrust Pakistan, rather, certain elements do so.Chaudhri concluded that these elements will not be allowed to affect Pakistan-Afghanistan relations.
