ISLAMABAD: Pakistan on Thursday strongly condemned India's reprehensible tactics against Pakistan that have once again been exposed by the EU DisinfoLab report, an independent non-governmental organisation, focusing on research and tackling sophisticated disinformation campaigns targeting the EU, its member states, core institutions, and core values.
Speaking at his weekly media briefing, Foreign Office spokesperson Zahid Hafeez Chaudhri referred to the DisinfoLab's recent report titled, "Indian Chronicles - Subsequent Investigation: Deep Dive into a 15 Year Operation Targeting the EU and UN to Serve Indian Interests", and strongly condemned India for its reprehensible tactics against Pakistan.
The report is a follow up of the DisinfoLab's 2019 report titled, "Influencing Policymakers with Fake Media Outlets (An Investigation into a pro-Indian influence network)".
According to the report, there is a vast network of fake media outlets, think tanks and NGOs serving Indian interests, the spokesperson said, adding that the report had previously uncovered the Indian propaganda body carrying out anti-Pakistan activities and cyber warfare against Pakistan led by Srivastava group of India and propagated by the Indian news agency ANI, since 2005.
"India not only spread disinformation but abused international institutions in its desire to malign Pakistan," he said, adding that the Indian actors carrying out the latest malicious operation resurrected more than 10 defunct Human Rights Council accredited NGOs, registered with the names of deceased analysts and experts, created hundreds of fake journalists identities, generated more than 750 media outlets and registered more than 550 fake domain names.
The Indian news agency, ANI, repackaged and amplified the malicious content produced in Brussels and Geneva, according to the report.
"The Government of Pakistan views these mischievous activities of launching unsubstantiated propaganda as part of India's pre-occupation with maligning Pakistan. Pakistan has already put forth irrefutable evidence, extensively documenting India's active planning, promoting, aiding, abetting, financing and executing terrorist activities in Pakistan," he said.
He added that publication of the recent report by EU DisinfoLab only substantiates Pakistan's position in front of the international community.
He urged Indian government to eschew the use of false propaganda as an instrument of state policy.
"Such Indian ploys of spreading misinformation are doomed to fail," he asserted.
By spreading such falsehoods, he added that India can neither cast a shadow on the international stature of Pakistan nor can divert the attention of the international community from India's horrendous human rights record.
Instead of wasting more time in peddling falsehoods and fake news, he added that India would be well-advised to put its house in order and take care of its own issues of poverty, grave human rights violations, exploitation of minority rights, and rising radicalism.
"The expose on Indian disinformation campaign by EU Disinfolab requires global attention. India's subversive activities against Pakistan have been ignored for far too long," he added.
Commenting on the possible Indian "false flag operation", he said that Pakistan has consistently been apprising the world about the possibility of India resorting to a "false flag operation" against Pakistan.
"We forewarn the world community yet again...Our armed forces, however, are fully vigilant and ready to respond to any misadventure or miscalculation by India," he asserted.
About the recent developments in the Gulf region, he said that Pakistan welcomes the progress towards resolution of the rift in the Gulf region and appreciates Kuwait's sincere efforts for helping in promoting reconciliation among the countries in the dispute.
He hoped that enhanced confidence and understanding among these countries will foster durable peace and prosperity in the region.
Commenting on the US designation of Pakistan along with nine other countries for alleged religious freedom violations, the spokesperson rejected the US designation of Pakistan as the "country of particular concern", saying that Pakistan has formally raised its "concerns" with the US authorities over State Department's arbitrary and selective assessment under a US domestic legislation on religious freedom.
"The designation of Pakistan as a "country of particular concern" is completely against the realities on the ground and raises serious doubts about the credibility of the exercise," he said, adding, "the glaring omission of India, where the RSS-BJP regime and their leaders openly disregard religious freedom and discriminate against minority communities in an institutionalised manner, is unfortunate and puts the credibility of the US report into question."
To a question about acquiring anti-coronavirus vaccine from Russia, the spokesperson said that Pakistan has officially received a proposal from Russia of the vaccine against the COVID-19, adding that the proposal has been forwarded to the Ministry of Health for further deliberations.
He further said that Pakistan is also in contact with a number of foreign companies/countries for getting the vaccines.
To another query about deportation of 1,500 Pakistanis from Saudi Arabia, the spokesperson termed this a routine deportation of those having no valid documents to stay in the Kingdom, saying that the increase in number of deportees from the Kingdom was because of the suspension of flight operation due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
About Indian intention to acquire Russian-made S-400 surface-to-air missile systems, the spokesperson said that India was destabilising the strategic stability of the region through the arms race.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2020
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