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Wednesday November 13, 2024

Pakistan to reply to India's state terrorism with 'desire for peace': FO's Zahid Chaudhri

Pakistan to reply to India's hate campaign by sharing accurate information, positive outreach, and "desire for peace"

By Web Desk
January 08, 2021
The News/Files

  • Pakistan to reply to India's hate campaign by sharing accurate information, positive outreach, and "desire for peace"
  • India "regrettably" and "flagrantly dishonored its international obligations and deliberately violated international law"
  • EU DisinfoLab in Nov 2020 revealed over 750 India-backed websites engaged in undermining Pakistan within EU, UN for about 15 years


ISLAMABAD: Pakistan would soon be responding to India and the hate and propaganda it fosters around the world, Foreign Office Spokesperson Zahid Hafeez Chaudhri said in a statement released Friday evening.

In his statement, Chaudhri said Pakistan would do so by sharing accurate information, positive outreach, and "desire for peace".

"We will respond to Indian falsehood with truth; to #IndianChronicles by sharing accurate information with int'l community; India’s anti-Pakistan propaganda through positive outreach to int'l community; to #IndianStateTerrorism with our desire for peace."

In another post on Twitter shortly afterwards, Chaudhri underlined how India "regrettably" and "flagrantly dishonored its international obligations and deliberately violated international law".

"Solemn pledges were made by the Indian leadership before Kashmiris, Pakistan, internationall community and before its own people to give Kashmiris their #RightToSelfDetermination," he said.

The disinformation campaign

In November last year, the EU DisinfoLab had revealed that over 750 India-backed websites covering more than 119 countries were operational for about 15 years with the sole purpose of undermining Pakistan within the European Union and United Nations.

The investigation unmasked the Srivastava Group backing the operation — termed "the Indian Chronicles" — while Indian news agency, the Asian News International (ANI), was used to boost it. The campaign had started in 2005 and is still functional.

The EU DisinfoLab had 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 created an illusion of institutional support from European institutions to these minority groups against Pakistan and China.

Fake media was created in Brussels, Geneva and across the world and then repackaged and disseminated via the ANI and obscure local media networks — at least in 97 countries — to multiply the repetition of online negative content about countries in conflict with India.

ANI's role in the operation

Highlighting the ANI's role in promoting pro-Indian content, the EU DisinfoLab said the EU Chronicle op-eds received "immediate repackaging" by the publication.

The ANI quoted these op-eds as genuine articles from "independent media EU Chronicle".

"ANI — which is considered as one of the biggest news agencies in India and the largest television agency of India — remains the only press agency [that] extensively cover[s] the activities of dubious NGOs in Geneva," the research said.

After uncovering ANI's reporting on these developments, the EU DisInfoLab discovered the Big News Network and the World News Network.