Islamabad asks UN to investigate fake NGOs created by India to malign Pakistan

• India is involved in a hybrid war against Pakistan: FM Shah Mahmood Qureshi
• Pakistan has been informing the international community about India's activities from time to time
• By using the UN and EU's names, India has breached international laws: Moeed Yusuf

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan on Friday asked the United Nations and the UN Human Rights Council to initiate an investigation and delist fake NGOs created by India to malign Pakistan.

The statement was read out by Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi while he was addressing a press conference along with the Special Assistant to Prime Minister on National Security Division and Strategic Policy Planning Moeed Yusuf following an investigative research by European Union (EU) DisinfoLab which detailed how India has been undermining Pakistan within the EU and UN through fake NGOs and news. 

A hybrid war against Pakistan

Speaking about the investigative report, FM Shah Mehmood Qureshi said that India is involved in a hybrid war against Pakistan and the latest report by the EU DisinfoLab confirms Pakistan’s apprehensions against the Indian propaganda.

"Indian network is working to consolidate more power and improve the image of India and damage the reputation of rival countries so that it can ultimately garner more support for itself from the international community," FM Qureshi said. 

Read: How India carried out the information warfare operation to internationally malign Pakistan in more detail

According to the report, India has been running a 15 year-long operation to spread lies about Pakistan with the help of more than 750 fake media outlets, reporting in 119 states. Aside from that, more than 550 domain names were registered under the operation to create a web of platforms that propagated fake news. Indian news platform ANI played a key role in spreading the fake news created through this operation in India and around the world.

"Pakistan has been informing the world about India's activities for a long time. The country also launched a full-fledged campaign against Pakistan with regards to the Financial Action Task Force (FATF)," he maintained, calling upon the international community to take notice of such steps by the RSS-BJP regime.

Enemy state 'a mafia'

Speaking on the occasion, SAPM National Security Division and Strategic Policy Planning Moeed Yusuf said India had breached international laws by using the names of the UN and EU to defame Pakistan.

Referencing India, he said that the enemy Pakistan is dealing with is not a country anymore but it has turned into a mafia.

Read more: Indian media ridiculed widely for outlandish stories about 'civil war' in Karachi

"Pakistan will pursue a proactive policy against India's propaganda and we will convey our narrative and stance to every possible forum," he said. "Our paradigm is based on economic security and peace while India is pursuing the agenda to hinder Pakistan's development."

He said all such hybrid war tactics of India will be foiled.

'No positive response' from concerned countries

Later in the day, Yusuf, while speaking in Geo News programme Naya Pakistan, said the 2019 report on the Indian propaganda network was a teaser but the web of anti-Pakistan information warfare was much wider.

"We had diplomatically shared this information with the concerned countries," he said. "A woman named Madi Sharma was behind the fake magazine and all of the servers [connected to the Indian Chronicles] were in India."

The EU DisinfoLab had labelled Madi Sharma "a key actor of Indian Chronicles".

"It was an operation by the RAW," the PM's aide said, referring to India's intelligence agency, the Research and Analysis Wing. "We had shared the information with the concerned countries but received no positive response.

Yusuf vows to raise India issue at UNSC

"This report also falls within the scope of EU countries and their laws. It includes creating fake organizations and deceiving the UN Human Rights Commission (UNHRC)," he added, urging for criminal charges to be leveled against those operating the Indian fact networks.

Yusuf said the state of India was "operating like a mafia in 116 countries".

"Can anyone imagine this state becoming a non-permanent member of the Security Council," he asked, vowing to raise this issue at the UNSC and noting that people and institutions that were deceived by fake institutions have to take legal action.

"This is a work in progress; some local laws will be applicable [as well]," he added, wondering if the UNSC would exercise its moral responsibility and hinting at writing to the UNHRC.

The Indian Chronicles

Titled "the Indian Chronicles," EU DisinfoLab's investigation report was released on Wednesday, December 9.  It revealed that India's Srivastava Group backed a 15-year-long disinformation campaign against Pakistan, while a leading Indian news agency — Asian News International (commonly known as ANI) — was used to boost the campaign. 

Did you know that India has more fake news than anywhere else in the world?

As per the report, the campaign started in 2005 and is functional to date. 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.