Since the ultra-right BJP came into power, South Asia has become more fragile, uncertain, and unstable. Subsequently, not only Indo-Pak relations touched the lowest ebb but India’s relations with its other immediate neighbors such as Nepal and Bangladesh also witnessed a nosedive.
India’s BJP government under the premiership of Narendra Modi renewed its policy of bullying and coercion leading to anxieties and security consciousness in the region. Among all, Pakistan remains the hardest-hit victim of Indian-sponsored terrorism and subvert-activities.
Read more: Indian Terrorism Dossier: Pakistan Foreign Office exposes Indian support to terrorism
The world’s so-called largest democracy has left no stone unturned in weakening Pakistan socially, politically, and economically. Without any single doubt, India under the Modi government has become the hub of terrorism.
Is Modi directly sponsoring terrorism in Pakistan?
History has a lesson for the people of Pakistan in particular and the global community at large that since Pakistan’s inception, India never accepted Pakistan as an independent state. Since then, India’s policy pundits have been trying hard to make Pakistan a failed state.
In doing so, India has employed a variety of nefarious activities against Pakistan. Most recently, Pakistan presented a dossier on India’s terror campaign to United Nations, urging the world community to prevail on New Delhi to desist from its illegal and aggressive activities.
Read more: India working on destabilizing Pakistan says FM Qureshi
Pakistan’s envoy to the UN Ambassador Munir Akram in his meeting with UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres explained how India was violating international law, the UN Charter, and UNSC resolutions by stoking terrorism inside Pakistan. “We have urged the Secretary General to play his role in persuading India to halt its terror and subversive campaign against Pakistan,” he said.
The irony lies in the fact that India’s terrorist and subversion campaigns against Pakistan are being directed and monitored from the highest levels of the Indian leadership. In 2016, PM Modi made a direct reference to the Baloch separatist movement in his Independence Day speech, saying that the people in Balochistan, and also in Gilgit and Kashmir, had reached out to him.
Read more: BJP leader responsible for ‘Free Balochistan’ signs abroad
All this came directly from the PM of India which further vindicated Pakistan’s contention that India through its intelligence agency RAW has been fomenting terrorism in Balochistan and other parts of Pakistan.
Pakistan does not want to internationalise the Baloch separatist movement by taking BLA to UNSC but it wants Chinese support on Kashmir issue in New York
(report by Shishir Gupta)
— Hindustan Times (@htTweets) August 2, 2020
India’s anti-Pakistan media operation
Terrorism is not the only tool that India is using against Pakistan. In fact, through a systematic and well-organized global campaign, India runs a fake and myth-making factory to damage Pakistan’s image globally.
Through the deadly combination of terrorism and information warfare, India paints Pakistan as a failed state. A major scandal recently surfaced when EU DisinfoLab, a Brussels-based non-governmental organization published an extensive report.
The findings of the damning report show how India revived 10 defunct yet UN-accredited NGOs in order to influence the EU and the UN Human Rights Council and malign Pakistan in various international prestigious forums. It also uncovered over 750 fake local media outlets involved in spreading disinformation.
Read more: How fake news wreaks political havoc?
According to reports, the anti-Pakistan media operation was launched by the Srivastava Group in 2005 and has been amplified by ANI (Asian News International), one of India’s leading news agencies.
The 15-year-long Indian Srivastava Group-led campaign “aimed to reinforce pro-Indian and anti-Pakistan feelings in India. Internationally, the campaign envisions improving the perception of India by receiving support from EU and UN organizations and by damaging the reputation of Pakistan.”
According to the EU DisinfoLab, “The network was designed primarily to discredit Pakistan internationally and influence decision-making at the UNHRC and European Parliament.” The primary purpose of India’s propaganda factory is to amplify the Modi government’s narratives and disseminate propaganda against Pakistan.
Read more: Op-ed: India has mastered the art of fifth generation warfare, time for Pakistan to wake up!
An important lesson for Pakistan
The sheer volume of information revealed about Indian network is shocking. The promotion of pro-India, anti-Pakistan narratives, as well as its carefully constructed fake-news machinery, is still serving Modi government and BJP’s aspirations of a ‘dominant India’ narrative.
The Indian fake network’s attempts to create a negative impression of Pakistan through fake news betray a sinister campaign which is beginning to define the conflict of our times.
There is no second thought about the fact that Pakistan is facing a spectrum of threats emanating from India. From terrorism to 5th generation warfare, India is destabilizing Pakistan at all fronts. Though the disclosure of disinformation campaign was an embarrassing reminder to India but it’s equally important for international community to hold India accountable for misusing prestigious organizations.
Read more: India defeated at SCO summit, its FATF propaganda against Pakistan failed
It is also a lesson for the people of Pakistan that they should be well-aware about the source of information when they receive. This is important for citizens from being manipulated, especially on social media.
It is even more critical for government of Pakistan to continue raising its voice on international forums and demand an end to New Delhi’s overt and covert operations against Pakistan.
The author is an Islamabad-based researcher. He can be reached at harisakmal487@gmail.com. The views expressed in the article are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect the editorial policy of Global Village Space.