Thread by @Conquest1453

Massive Pro-India Disinformation Campaign Busted

Disinformation Campaign Was Targeting EU & UN With Sham NGO's , Fake Media Outlets , Tell-All Expose Reveals

By Riyaz Ul Khaliq

@riyazulkhaliq

Link : aa.com.tr/en/asia-pacifi…

A 15-year-long campaign to “denigrate” Pakistan & Kashmir at international forums has been busted by a Europe-based disinformation watchdog .

The EU DisinfoLab exposed a disinformation campaign that targeted the European Union & UN with over 750 fake local media outlets & more than 10 sham non-governmental organizations .

“ To do so , they resurrected dead NGOs at the UN . They impersonated the EU . They laundered content produced by fake media to real media -- & reached millions in South-Asia & across the world ,” the watchdog said .

The fake NGOs were traced back to the New Delhi-based Srivastava Group .

Last December , the watchdog busted 265 Pro-India websites operating across 65 countries . They were " Found to be responsible for Anti-Pakistan lobbying events in Europe ."

The EU DisinfoLab’s investigative report , titled : “ Indian Chronicles ” , narrated how the name of Martin Schulz , former president of the European Parliament , was misused .

" It seemed he was now heading Canners International , an NGO dedicated to the promotion of … food in cans .

“ We soon found that the NGO he was supposedly leading officially ceased to exist in 2007 & was now regularly speaking at the UN Human Rights Council [UNHRC] to slam Pakistan ,” the watchdog said .

The disinformation network worked on a 2-pronged strategy .

In Geneva , it used think-tanks & NGO's for lobbying , protesting & taking the floor at the UNHRC on behalf of “ Accredited ” organizations .

In Brussels , the focus was on Members of the European Parliament (MEP's) who were taken on international trips & solicited to write op-eds for fake outlets like EU Chronicle .

The write-ups would then be amplified by Asian News International (ANI) -- India’s largest wire service & video news agency .

The disinformation network was spread across 116 countries with fake editors & journalists working with 10 UN-recognized NGO's .

The watchdog avoided naming any intelligence agency but vaguely referred to India .

" The obscure Srivastava-owned company Aglaya & it's potential ties with Indian intelligence services : ANI’s ambiguous relationship with the Indian State :

the threats against a speaker at the UN by a member of the Srivastava group & the alleged interrogation of the supposed victim by Indian security services ," it said .

The report revealed how these fake NGO's organized trips for the MEP's to Indian-administered Kashmir , Bangladesh & the Maldives .

“ Some of these trips led to much institutional controversy , as the delegations of the MEP's were often presented as official EU delegations when they were in fact not travelling on behalf of the Parliament ,” it said .

" Dead Professor "

A dead professor was at the heart of the investigation .

The network “ Resurrected ” Louis Sohn , who is known as the “ Grandfather Of International Human Rights Law ”.

Louis Sohn died in 2006 , but the Indian Chronicles listed him as a UNHRC participant in 2007 & as an attendee of an event in Washington , D.C. in 2011 .

" Pakistan Jubilant "

Jubilant over the massive expose , Pakistan is maximizing it's efforts to win the confidence of the European community , which was affected due to the disinformation campaign .

Pakistan's President Arif Alvi tweeted : “ Dead Professor & the vast Pro-India , Anti-Pakistan , fake news & disinformation set up .

Exists since 2005 . Despite exposure last year , it has grown vast with 750 fake media outlets . All done thru front companies . Real news is bad , so India banks on fake news .”

Pakistan’s Prime Minister Imran Khan also strongly reacted to the massive expose on India’s global propaganda network , saying it has “ Vindicated Pakistan’s Position ”.

“ Pakistan has consistently drawn attention of international community to India's subversive activities to undermine democracies in the region : & export/fund extremism through structures of fake news orgs & ‘ Think Tanks ’ , ” he said in a statement on Twitter .

“ The revelations by @DisinfoEU on the widespread Indian network of subversive activities vindicates Pakistan's position & exposes its detractors . The international community needs to take notice of a rogue Indian regime that now threatens the stability of the global system .”

Khan said his government recently released a “ Dossier ” on “ India's State Terrorism In Pakistan ” & presented it to the UN .

The PTI-led federal government in Islamabad recently released pictorials & video material , calling it “ Irrefutable Claims ” & blaming India for “ Sponsoring Terrorism In Pakistan ”.

Pakistan's Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi said there was “ No Surprise ” in the expose as “ India Sits Atop The World’s Largest Disinformation Network ”.

Moeed Yusuf @YusufMoeed , Pakistan’s national security adviser, linked India’s alleged disinformation network with “state-sponsored terrorism inside Pakistan.”

The “ Dossier ” that Pakistan recently released & submitted to the UN & other multilateral bodies claims India was behind hundreds of terrorist incidents in the country .