Featured Indian Chronicles: deep dive into a 15-year operation targeting the EU and UN to serve Indian interests

[Salman876]

Millions for propaganda and not a cent for starving children.

billions, not millions

 

[siegecrossbow]

billions, not millions

Well to be fair those billions did take India one step closer to the 5 trillion dollar economy.

 

[Salman876]

Pathetic country of intellectually deficient descendants of tree swinging slaves. They are plying all their resources into this disinformation campaign, yet they're still a laughing stock and running joke in white countries. They have nothing to show for their efforts. They have no cohesive insurgency in any of the Pakistani regions they have been trying to foment separatism in. They can still only engage in minor terrorist acts to create a nuisance, but have lost all hope of creating a mukhti bahini equivalent. Beyond terrorism, they create such outlandish dramas like "Karachi civil war" that nobody takes them seriously.

They think the only template for a disinformation campaign is that designed by some Bollywood producer with smash, bang, wow and bells and whistles for even more attention seeking. They create such hubris that their own citizens fall for the propaganda, believing their soldiers and nation to be invincible, hence the shock and disbelief when Migs get shot down or jawans fall into rivers. They spend millions trying to cover up LOC deaths with equally laughable disinformation campaigns claiming half their KIAs are suicides or accidents. They just don't realise the true art of propaganda or disinformation arises from short, subtle and imperceptible "nudges" of the global discourse. In 73 years of fkin existence, they haven't realised that Bollywood isn't real and cheap flash bang doesn't actually alter perceptions. See how other nations like Israel play a game subtly and without anyone noticing; hence they quietly rise. Indians meanwhile parade AMRAAM missile pieces at press conferences thinking it will earn them some respect.

Indians remain incel cow urine drinking call centre scammers in the minds of white people, and that burns them deeply every night before they scuttle off to bed.

Just read the Daily Mail for two weeks to see how they undo years of attempted brainwashing of white people with just a couple of unavoidable moments of gaomutra partying, child rape or Dalit murder. It's hilarious how Indians constantly take one step forward in their pathetic hopeless infowar but immediately take ten steps back as soon as some picture is released of Modi lunging desperately to hug someone or Amit Shah looking so greased up that he may spontaneously combust on a hot day or the usual barrage of media showing absent minded head bobbling fanatics and their latest adventure in lala land bowing before some statue of Trump or claiming urine parties cure Covid.

Seriously, fking hell...there is little to worry about from a nation that embarasses itself every time 2 or 3 citizens get together and convince themselves they have stumbled upon some genius plan to market India or Hinduism.

Let them carry on. Pakistan should prepare its military for the inevitable war and keep developing its science and economic sectors. India will ultimately shitt all over its own shoes solely because of Indians and their weird idiosyncrasies. ISI remains on extended leave while Indians complete its objectives on its behalf.

Brother, I can only say, situation is not that good, and Pakistan knows this, and working on it.

Pathetic country of intellectually deficient descendants of tree swinging slaves. They are plying all their resources into this disinformation campaign, yet they're still a laughing stock and running joke in white countries. They have nothing to show for their efforts. They have no cohesive insurgency in any of the Pakistani regions they have been trying to foment separatism in. They can still only engage in minor terrorist acts to create a nuisance, but have lost all hope of creating a mukhti bahini equivalent. Beyond terrorism, they create such outlandish dramas like "Karachi civil war" that nobody takes them seriously.

They think the only template for a disinformation campaign is that designed by some Bollywood producer with smash, bang, wow and bells and whistles for even more attention seeking. They create such hubris that their own citizens fall for the propaganda, believing their soldiers and nation to be invincible, hence the shock and disbelief when Migs get shot down or jawans fall into rivers. They spend millions trying to cover up LOC deaths with equally laughable disinformation campaigns claiming half their KIAs are suicides or accidents. They just don't realise the true art of propaganda or disinformation arises from short, subtle and imperceptible "nudges" of the global discourse. In 73 years of fkin existence, they haven't realised that Bollywood isn't real and cheap flash bang doesn't actually alter perceptions. See how other nations like Israel play a game subtly and without anyone noticing; hence they quietly rise. Indians meanwhile parade AMRAAM missile pieces at press conferences thinking it will earn them some respect.

Indians remain incel cow urine drinking call centre scammers in the minds of white people, and that burns them deeply every night before they scuttle off to bed.

Just read the Daily Mail for two weeks to see how they undo years of attempted brainwashing of white people with just a couple of unavoidable moments of gaomutra partying, child rape or Dalit murder. It's hilarious how Indians constantly take one step forward in their pathetic hopeless infowar but immediately take ten steps back as soon as some picture is released of Modi lunging desperately to hug someone or Amit Shah looking so greased up that he may spontaneously combust on a hot day or the usual barrage of media showing absent minded head bobbling fanatics and their latest adventure in lala land bowing before some statue of Trump or claiming urine parties cure Covid.

Seriously, fking hell...there is little to worry about from a nation that embarasses itself every time 2 or 3 citizens get together and convince themselves they have stumbled upon some genius plan to market India or Hinduism.

Let them carry on. Pakistan should prepare its military for the inevitable war and keep developing its science and economic sectors. India will ultimately shitt all over its own shoes solely because of Indians and their weird idiosyncrasies. ISI remains on extended leave while Indians complete its objectives on its behalf.

They have their puppets in every part of Pakistan, Balochistan, Sindh, KPK, GB, and now in Punjab as well. and any one can become mukhti bahini.

 

[Hakikat ve Hikmet]

BD is the most successful RAW ops - B Raman, former Deputy Chief of RAW in his autobiography

The Ehl-i Sheyatin from India have been doing it ever since!!! The most successful executions were bastards like Abdullah, Mujib, Mukti Bahini etc......

 

[Salman876]

BD is the most successful RAW ops - B Raman, former Deputy Chief of RAW in his autobiography

The Ehl-i Sheyatin from India have been doing it ever since!!! The most successful executions were bastards like Abdullah, Mujib, Mukti Bahini etc......

list is very long

 

[Bratva]

ANI, Srivastava Group named in massive EU disinformation campaign to promote Modi government’s interests
THE CARAVAN
09 December 2020



The EU DisinfoLab, an NGO based in Brussels, has published a report detailing one of the largest ever disinformation campaigns in Europe, organised by Indian stakeholders, to further the interests of the Indian government and the prime minister Narendra Modi. Among the prime players of this disinformation campaign are Asian News International, India’s largest video news agency, and the Srivastava group—a shadowy business conglomerate that came into the spotlight in India after it organised a visit to Kashmir for far-right members of the European Parliament, in late 2019.

The report, titled “Indian Chronicles,” is based on a year-long investigation by the NGO, which was built upon and published exclusively by news organisations such as Les Jours in France. Les Jours quoted a misinformation expert who described this campaign as “a network … whose scope and impact are comparable to the operation of Russian interference during the campaign in the United States in 2016.”

The DisinfoLab report described how fake media websites and NGOs run by the Srivastava group lobbied members of the European parliament, or MEPs, to write op-eds taking pro-India stances, often against Pakistan or China, which were then published on the group’s dummy news websites. ANI then quoted these as credible reports from European media, from where Indian media and news channels reproduced and disseminated them, unchecked. The Les Jours report suggested that the entire operation could be linked to Indian intelligence services.

According to DisinfoLab, the network has been frequently used to manufacture calls of solidarity from European leaders for the Modi government’s actions. One example that the report cited concerned surgical strikes by the Indian Army in Pakistan, ahead of the 2019 general elections. EP Today, a dummy website run by the Srivastava group, published an op-ed by Ryszard Czarnecki, a member of the European parliament. Czarnecki wrote in support of the strikes. ANI then reproduced this opinion, but with a crucial twist—it claimed this to be the EU’s official statement, announcing its support of Modi.

This disinformation was then reported by other Indian outlets, such as the Economic Times, reaching millions of Indians.

The DisinfoLab report also found that for 15 years, organisations connected to the Srivastava group had been making representations at the Council for Human Rights, at the United Nations, primarily undermining Pakistan. According to the report, organisations connected to the Srivastava group even “resurrected” dead people and dead NGOs—that is, used their names and identities—to create an air of credibility around themselves.


The latest DisinfoLab report builds upon a 2019 report that had exposed EP Today’s workings. In October 2019, the European External Action Service’s East Strat Com, effectively the EU’s task force to tackle disinformation, revealed that the EP Today website had been republishing a large amount of news directly from Russia Today and Voice of America. When DisinfoLab investigated the organisation, it found “a large number of articles and op-eds related to minorities in Pakistan as well as other India related matters.” The investigation also linked EP Today to a “large network of think tanks, NGOs, and companies from the Srivastava Group.”

The IP address of EP Today was registered by an NGOs linked to the Srivastava group. Their findings, which included at least 265 fake news sites that operated in around sixty countries, all linked to Indian interests, were published in a December 2019 report. Following this publication, the EP Today website disappeared, as did a range of other news organisation named in the report.

The DisinfoLab’s 2020 report states that EP Today has been reconstituted into a new publication called EU Chronicle. On 14 August 2020, the Chronicle’s twitter account posted a video by Thierry Mariani, a French far-right leader, in which he said, “I want to extend my sincere and warmest greetings to Prime Minister Modi on this Indian Independence Day. It is a pleasure to see India excel under your dynamic leadership as the world battles Covid19.” The Chronicle then posted similar messages from other right-wing leaders, such as Czarnecki and Fulvio Martusciello, from Italy. A month later, EU Chronicle posted a video of Mariani wishing Modi on his birthday. The DisinfoLab found that a majority of the content published by the EU Chronicle was copying press releases or reports that seemed like they had been written by bots. Despite its limited presence, it has published multiple articles by Czarnecki and Martusciello. All three—Mariani, Czarnecki and Martusciello—were among the MEPs who visited Kashmir.
When asked about whether the report had proof of ANI working directly with the Srivastava companies, AlexandreAlaphilippe, the director of DisinfoLab, wrote that he had “no comment,” before adding: “But I encourage you to look at these facts: eu chronicle set up on 6th May. 11th may already 3 op-eds from 3 MEPs. On 12th May, ANI quotes Eu chronicle as an independent media and reliable source.”
The Les Jours report shows how the Indian lobby gets European politicians to support Indian foreign interests. Julie Ward, a British member of the European parliament, was approached by Madi Sharma, a lobbyist, to cosign articles for EP Today on women’s rights in Saudi Arabia. (Sharma was among the organisers of the Kashmir visit.) Ward later posed at least one question suggested by Sharma in the European parliament. “Then I was asked to co-sign a column on human-rights violations in Balochistan”—in Pakistan—“which made me uncomfortable, it seemed very biased to me,” Ward told Antoine Hasday and Nicolas Quénel, who reported for Les Jours. “Even though I am critical of the Pakistani government, I was increasingly worried about Narendra Modi’s (nationalist and authoritarian drift).” The article also linked Sharma to EU Chronicle.

Les Jours quoted Alaphilippe, the director of DisinfoLab, as saying that op-eds were common in Brussels. “This allows MEPs to put forward their positions and it reinforces the credibility of the media that publishes it. This can also be used to gain the confidence of the deputies for lobbyists before suggesting parliamentary questions to them, for example.” The report suggests that this is a favoured tactic of Indian agents to push soft-power in Europe.


The Les Jours report suggests that Indian intelligence services could be behind the Srivastava group’s misinformation operations. It cited various examples to justify this claim. It quoted a statement by the Lawyers for Human Rights International, a human-rights organisation based in Punjab, on an incident related to Pramila Srivastava, a board member of the group and wife of the group’s founder. Pramila threatened a pediatrician for speaking about infanticide in Punjab in the UN Human Rights Commission, LHRI stated. Pramila responded to the doctor’s presentation saying it would create “a false image of India,” and that doctor would have to “assume the consequences.” The pediatrician was questioned by the Indian intelligence services on her return to the country.

Les Jours noted that a company run by Ankur Srivastava, also of the Srivastava family, makes malware which he said is only sold to Indian intelligence services. It also noted that the Srivastava group runs several fake news websites including Socialist Weekly, Khalsa Akhbar Lahore and the Times of Azad Kashmir, which are likely linked to Indian intelligence services. When asked about this, Alaphilippe said, “We do not have a formal attribution of this operation. However, its sophistication as well as its physical presence both in Brussels and Geneva is something that really intrigues us. You need more than a few computers to plan and sustain such an action.”


A sizable portion of the 2020 DisinfoLab report discusses how ANI misrepresents reports from EU Chronicle and other Srivastava group linked organisations to convince an Indian audience that Modi’s actions have support in Europe. The report notes that Yahoo News India and BP Business World have reproduced at least 8 ANI dispatches based on content originating from EU Chronicle, and ZEE5 has reproduced at least 9 segments of content. The Business Standardnewspaper and the Times of India have also used this type of content. According to the count of DisinfoLab investigators, ANI has already copied content published by EU Chronicle 13 times in just six months. It is unclear why ANI so often republishes the work of such an obscure news organisation—the news organisation did not respond to Les Jours requests for comment.


The 2020 DisinfoLab report also points to how NGOs and freshly restored international organisations linked to the Srivastava network worked as a lobby in the UN Human Rights Commission to whitewash state-led Indian atrocities and highlight violence in Pakistan. The DisinfoLab identified at least ten NGOs as part of the Indian disinformation network. Some of these had formal links to India, and some had even been shut down before they were restarted to serve Indian needs. The report states that the Canners International Permanent Committee of Conservation—a French conservation NGO which closed down in 2007—was restarted by the Srivastava network to speak about Pakistan at the UNHRC, often portraying it in a negative light.


Similarly, DisinfoLab notes, the Commission to Study the Organization of Peace, an international organisation that ceased all activities in the 1970s, was resurrected by the network to frequently criticise Pakistan in Geneva. The email ID of CSOP was used to register other websites linked to the Indian network. In the jargon of Geneva, DisinfoLab noted, such organisations are called “government-organised” non-governmental organisations, sponsored by states to represent a country’s interests or damage the image of a rival. The report, however, stated that this did not clearly violate any rules of the UN or the UNHRC.

“ANI remains the only press agency to extensively cover the activities of dubious NGOs in Geneva,” the DisinfoLab report says, describing the agency’s work as “distortion.” Quenel, one of the Les Jours reporters, described an instance where ANI seemed fully aware that it was misreporting news from NGOs in Geneva. In September, a man called Lakhu Luhana spoke at the UNHRC, representing World Environment and Resources Council—an organisation that disappeared in the 1980s, but was resurrected to serve Indian strategic interests like the CSOP and the CIPCC. Quenel noted that ANI had issued a dispatch and a tweet on the speech, which focused on the “persecution” of the Pakistani Sindhi minority. “In the ANI tweet it is WERC which is mentioned, however, the title of the dispatch, mentions a completely different association: the World Sindhi Congress,” Quenel said. “A simple search of the World Sindhi Congress shows clearly that Lakhu Luhana is its general secretary. ANI’s spontaneous mention of the World Sindhi Congress demonstrates that it was aware of the duplicity of the WERC’s role at Geneva.”


The Les Jours report notes that in 2019, Mariani also went to Geneva on the invitation of the South Asia Democratic Forum—a Brussels-based think tank. The SADF was created in 2011 by Paulo Casaca, a former MEP, and is domiciled in Brussels at the same address as an office of an organisation linked to the Srivastava group. The domain name of the think tank was also registered directly by the Indian company. In September 2019, SADF sent Mariani by plane to Geneva, in business class, and paid for two nights at the luxurious Beaurivage hotel. All this, in order to attend a press conference on Jammu and Kashmir, organised by the think tank—an event, Quenel noted, “that was covered by the media of the Srivastava group, and by the ANI.”

“In our past studies, we never encountered such a coordination between different stakeholders,” Alaphilippe said. “The fact, that during 15 years, and even after being partially exposed last year, this operation is able to keep its activities shows the sophistication and the willingness of the actors behind Indian Chronicles. It is definitely the biggest network we’ve exposed.”

Disinformation “has been part of the playbook of all countries,” Alaphilippe added. “For instance, we found out a very similar operation serving Pakistani interests in Geneva, which points at how all countries are learning from each other and adapt … Just imagine if the same operation would have been carried out by China or Russia. What would have been the headlines of the media?” He called for action from European bodies against such acts, saying that “the biggest failure from institutions would be if another report is released next year on the same actors with the same techniques. This would mean that EU institutions … are ok with foreign interferences.”

ANI, Srivastava Group named in massive EU disinformation campaign to promote Modi government’s interests

Fake websites run by the Srivastava group lobbied European politicians to write op-eds favouring India. ANI reproduced these as Europe's support for Modi.

caravanmagazine.in

New pro-India EU website enrolling MEPs campaigns against Pakistan

Researchers say the EU Chronicle website is the newest iteration of an Indian influence campaign.

Op-ed articles falsely attributed to their authors, some of them European lawmakers. Journalists who seem not to exist. Anti-Pakistan content ripped from other websites and repackaged to be read by hundreds of millions in India.

All of it, seemingly out of an office park in Ghent.

EU Chronicle, a website claiming to deliver "news from the European Union," is the newest iteration of an influence campaign run by an Indian organization called the Srivastava Group, according to research by NGO EU DisinfoLab shared with POLITICO.


The purpose of the website appears to be to further Indian interests and malign New Delhi's rivals including Pakistan and China.

The anti-Pakistan, anti-China content published on the website is often reused by the Indian news agency ANI and hundreds of other domains, including outlets such as the Sierra Leone Times or TajikistanNews.net. According to EU DisinfoLab research, Indian business magazine BW Business World published at least eight clips from ANI that were based on EU Chronicle material.

While sometimes relying on MEPs for content, EU Chronicle's main target audience is not the Brussels crowd, the research shows. It's mainly a feeder for mainstream Indian publications that pick up the news accessed by hundreds of millions in India.

Some of the EU lawmakers featured on the website denied having written op-eds published in their name. Others said they were happy to have a platform where they can broadcast their sympathies for the Indian government.

In addition to EU Chronicle, EU DisinfoLab said the Group coordinates a number of organizations fronting as NGOs also working to wield influence in the Parliament. These include the Women's Economic and Social Think Tank (WESTT), the South Asia Democracy Forum and Friends of Gilgit-Baltistan.

"What we learned in this investigation is that it is possible to turn EU Institutions into unwitting actors of a 15-year influence operation. With lobbying and fake media, Indian Chronicles [the name DisinfoLab has given to the operation] has been successful in building a strong sense of a constant official support of the EU to Indian interests, reaching millions in South-Asia," said Gary Machado, EU DisinfoLab's managing director.


He explained how the website works to distort content. For example, a pro-Indian comment spoken in a personal capacity by a single MEP is modified to sound like the official voice of the whole Parliament. "When dozens of Indian media write that 'EU backs India's surgical strikes' based on a single MEP position, we believe it should not be neglected simply because the disinformation takes place far away from the European Union," Machado said, referring to military action India took against Pakistan last year, and which did not receive the EU's blessing.

India and Pakistan are nuclear-armed political rivals in South Asia. They have fought multiple wars, and went to the brink of one more last year after India conducted air strikes in Pakistani territory in response to a terror attack it blamed Pakistan for.

Much of their dispute is centered around the region of Kashmir, which is currently divided between the two countries, but neither formally accepts the de facto border. Internationally, India blames Pakistan for cross-border terrorism, and both blame each other for persecuting the religious minorities in their countries — Muslims in India, Hindus in Pakistan.

Thierry Mariani, an MEP who belongs to the far-right Identity and Democracy group and wrote op-eds on EU Chronicle, is happy to put his name on anti-Pakistan content. He also sent personal video messages wishing Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi happy birthday via the website's Twitter handle.

“I stand by my political choices. Did I know [EU Chronicle] is pro-India? I don’t care, it’s not a question I ask myself,” he said.

The French MEP, who is a member of the Parliament's special committee on foreign interference, which deals with disinformation, added: “What matters is not whether it’s an Indian, Pakistani or Javanese website, but rather what I write and what I defend — and I fight against Pakistan.” He said he couldn't remember who exactly got in touch with him to write the op-eds.


The Brussels front
It's not the first time a site with seemingly EU credentials looks to be backed by the Indian Srivastava Group.

In Brussels, a website called EPToday was part of an operation that would highlight anti-Pakistan comments by some MEPs and events held at the European Parliament where Pakistan would be criticized — normally by the Srivastava-backed groups like WESTT or South Asia Democracy Forum. Those comments and events would then also be picked up and amplified by news outlets in India. In addition, the website would also aggregate news from Russian-backed outlet RT. It was shut down days after POLITICO reported on it, with research from EUDisinfoLab. Its Twitter handle was suspended, and its Facebook page disappeared.

EUDisinfoLab said EU Chronicle, which went live in May 2020, is doing the same thing. The website publishes articles with headlines like "Follow the money — Pakistan's money laundering and terror financing trail" and "Pakistan – Where the rate of growth in graveyards is bigger than the economic growth." Most of these articles are published anonymously.

The website's Twitter handle has published a series of videos detailing human rights abuses in Pakistan with the hashtag #PakistanHorrors. Conversely, it published another video series of MEPs congratulating India on its independence day and its Prime Minister Narendra Modi on his birthday.

The names of the website's staffers on the website are "probably not real," according to EUDisinfoLab, and the articles attributed to them are also syndicated content published automatically. An anonymous article from June is almost entirely copy-pasted from a POLITICO article, without accreditation.

A Google search provided no links to EU Chronicle journalists' profiles apart from where they are mentioned in EU Chronicle. The company's address directed to a Regus office park in Ghent.


None of the people listed as EU Chronicle journalists replied to a request for comment.

The articles with real bylines include European lawmakers, either with or without their consent. Overall, 11 MEPs' names appear on op-eds for EU Chronicle, most of them critical of Pakistan and China, India's other big rival. Two of them, Grzegorz Tobiszowski (Polish, ECR) and Giuseppe Milazzo (Italian, EPP), denied having written the opinion pieces.

Tobiszowski "has never been interviewed by EU Chronicle on any topic and hasn't provided them any comments whatsoever," his office said.

Milazzo, whose name appears on an article criticizing Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan's policy towards its minority Ahmadiyya community, said he was not asked to write anything for the site. "We're not really involved in Pakistani issues," an official from his office said. "I don't know how they could quote us without saying anything at all."

Belgian MEP Marc Tarabella (S&D), whose name appeared on an op-ed calling on EU leaders not to attend the G20 conference in Saudi Arabia, said that while the quotes attributed to him in the article are accurate, he did not write it. "Some of our pieces are used for strange news, I guess," one of his staffers said.

Other lawmakers featured on the website including Ryszard Czarnecki (Polish, ECR), Fulvio Martusciello (Italian, EPP) and French MEPs Virginie Joron and Julie Lechanteux (ID) —none of them responded to multiple requests for comment.


Martusciello and Czarnecki, both of whom have multiple op-eds in their name on EU Chronicle, have a longer association with the Srivastava Group. They both wrote pieces for the defunct EPToday, have participated in Parliament events critical of Pakistan, and they both went on a controversial trip to Indian-administered Kashmir last year, which was also organized by the Srivastava Group. Lechanteux, Joron and Mariani also went on the trip to Kashmir.

'International business broker' at the center

Tarabella's office also said Madi Sharma, the self-styled "international business-broker" who organized the Kashmir trip, as the one who solicited him for an article on EU Chronicle. After Tarabella's office asked Sharma to remove his byline from the article, the whole article was removed.

Sharma did not respond to request for comment, but according to correspondence shared with POLITICO, she said any connection between her and EUChronicle was "fake news." She also declined to speak about her connection with the Srivastava Group, saying her "personal and professional relationships are confidential."

She accused EU DisinfoLab of having paid a number of publications, including POLITICO, and claimed EU DisinfoLab itself was paid "by a third party to produce a media disinformation campaign against me (and others.)" POLITICO was not paid by EU DisinfoLab for this report.

According to DisinfoLab, nine out of the 11 MEPs who appeared in EU Chronicle also had ties to the Srivastava Group either because they participated in the Kashmir visit or they wrote for EPToday.

Most of them come belong to the far right, highlighting the ideological alignment between Europe and India's nationalisms.


"If you have a government led by a very right-wing, anti-Muslim nationalist, of course that’s going to appeal to the Islamophobic, right-wing, nationalist Europeans," said former U.K. MEP Julie Ward, who was also approached by Madi Sharma to write anti-Pakistan content when she was still in the European Parliament.

"That’s why Modi likes European’s far right," she add

New pro-India EU website enrolling MEPs campaigns against Pakistan

Researchers say the EU Chronicle website is the newest iteration of an Indian influence campaign.

www.politico.eu

 

[Neurath]

I know we're losing this war, and frankly I don't think we are going to win this. Reasons are simple. The Indians have a way way larger population than us and way more people on the internet that we can. They can spread misinformation in massive numbers, while we cannot do anything at all. It is best to just keep throwing the facts and developing ourselves as a country so people can visit Pakistan and see it for themselves, not having to rely on India Today.

 

[Ghessan]

EU watchdog uncovers massive Indian disinformation campaign against Pakistan | The Express Tribune

Investigation by an independent Brussels-based watchdog reveals pro-Indian campaign aimed at defaming Pakistan

tribune.com.pk

EU watchdog uncovers massive Indian disinformation campaign against Pakistan
Investigation by an independent Brussels-based watchdog reveals pro-Indian campaign aimed at defaming Pakistan


Hammad SarfrazDecember 10, 2020

KARACHI:
An independent non-profit organisation focused on tackling sophisticated disinformation has exposed the latest iteration of an Indian influence campaign aimed at defaming Pakistan within the EU institutions.
According to an investigation by the EU DisinfoLab, a Brussels-based NGO, a coordinated influence operation, to malign Pakistan’s reputation, is being led by the New-Delhi-based Srivastava Group and amplified by Asia News International (ANI), an Indian news agency.
The operation’s mission is to discredit nations in conflict with India in the region, in particular, Pakistan and also China to a certain extent. In the long run, the campaign is aimed at bolstering India’s global perception, which will ultimately allow New Delhi to bag more support from international institutions such as the EU and the UN.

Democratic regimes don’t indulge in such actives. All indicators, including the spread of disinformation show that India is not a democracy
Dr. Wizarat, a noted scholar and expert on international affairs

In total, DisinfoLab researchers believe the operation, which has been running for the past 15 years, has employed more 750 fake media outlets, and more than 550 domain names in 119 countries to reinforce pro-Indian and anti-Pakistan feelings. While the websites have no direct links to the Indian government, researchers tracked them to a New Delhi-based organization called the Srivastava Group.
Dr. Wizarat, a noted scholar and expert on international affairs said India has been directly involved in such activities. “Pakistan and other regional victims of India’s policies must band together to expose the regime in New Delhi.”
China, she said, could play a very important role in putting India on the defensive in this case. When asked about the impact of DisinfoLab’s exposé on India’s global image, Dr. Wizarat bluntly said: “The revelation hammers India’s image as the self-proclaimed largest democracy."
“Democratic regimes don’t indulge in such activities. All indicators, including the spread of disinformation, show that India is not a democracy.”
According to DisinfoLab, the influence campaign playbook includes fake media outlets in Brussels, Geneva and across the world. The NGO revealed that these outlets repackage and disseminate information via ANI and other obscure local media networks – in several countries.
The network, DisinfoLab said, regurgitates negative content about India’s regional opponents, particularly Pakistan.

At the very least the EU should open its own investigation and determine whether this misinformation campaign was supported by New Delhi. If not, then India should work with the EU to report misinformation
Adam N Weinstein, Research Fellow at the Quincy Institute

Following a preliminary investigation published last year, the EU DisinfoLab unearthed another extensive and manipulative campaign targeting international institutions and serving Indian interests. Back then, the operation was named “Indian Chronicles” by the DisinfoLab researchers.
In a report published by Politico’s Europe-focused site, DisinfoLab’s managing director explained the website’s aim was to amplify pro-India comments by Members of European Parliament (MEP).
EU Chronicle is the latest addition to the long list of websites that have sprinkled anti-Pakistan content online while constantly lobbying India’s interests. DisinfoLab investigators said EU Chronicle is a “new fake media site with fake journalists supposedly covering European affairs, which offers a platform for MEPs to sign pro-Indian articles.”
According to Euractiv’s report, 11 MEPs across a range of Parliamentary groups have penned or endorsed op-eds on the platform.
Commenting on the development from the Quincy Institute, a newly formed public policy think tank in Washington, D.C., Adam N Weinstein said: “At the very least the EU should open its own investigation and determine whether this misinformation campaign was supported by New Delhi. If not, then India should work with the EU to report misinformation.”

It is unclear whether the disinformation campaign is endorsed by the Modi administration, but the messaging clearly reflects BJP positions and is unlikely to be challenged without external pressure
Adam N Weinstein, Research Fellow at the Quincy Institute

Referring to similar cases in the past, the Washington D.C-based researcher said: “Unfortunately, past reporting has previously revealed this phenomenon of India-based misinformation campaigns without much consequence.”
While DisinfoLab has not associated the campaign with the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in India, the messaging, Weinstein said, reflects the Modi administration’s position.
“It is unclear whether the disinformation campaign is endorsed by the Modi administration, but the messaging clearly reflects BJP positions and is unlikely to be challenged without external pressure,” said Weinstein, who focuses on transitional justice, trade, Afghanistan, and Pakistan.
On the campaign and its credibility, Weinstein said: “It is particularly disheartening that some of these disinformation accounts appropriated human rights causes inside Pakistan. However, it is also unfortunate that events inside Pakistan have enabled such a campaign to appear authentic.”
Pakistan campaign
A long list of websites, DisinfoLab said, were used over a period of 15 years to discredit Pakistan. These websites and their social media handles were used to publish videos and articles highlighting human rights abuses in Pakistan. At the same time, these platforms published positive reports about India.
DisinfoLab’s investigation reveals that the names of these website staffers were ‘probably not real’. Some articles, the Brussels-based NGO said were also published anonymously.

This is one of the most serious expose of India run, managed and funded FAKE news, NGO and think-tank networks created since 2005 to malign Pakistan internationally, especially at the UN and EU. The world needs to be talking about this
Syed Hassan Akbar, Senior policy specialist at the national security division

According to DisinfoLab, the pro-India operation is busy creating informal working groups inside the Parliament, establishing fake newsgroups, as well as influencing parliamentary questions to the European Commission. All such efforts, the investigators at DisinfoLab said were aimed at portraying Pakistan as the villain and India as a defender of globally accepted values.
Named as ‘zombie sites’ primarily because they were resurrected from dead media outlets, these platforms were constantly used to promote content that was against Pakistan.
Many of these fake websites also used names similar to active and defunct news outlets to provide a veneer or credibility.
Reacting to the report, Syed Hassan Akbar, Senior policy specialist at the national security division said “This is one of the most serious expose of India run, managed and funded FAKE news, NGO and think-tank networks created since 2005 to malign Pakistan internationally, especially at the UN and EU. The world needs to be talking about this.”
When asked about how Pakistan should deal with Indian efforts to discredit it on the global stage, Dr. Wizarat unequivocally condemned the actions. “It’s about time Pakistan gets aggressive about this. We need to expose India on every international platform,” the Karachi-based scholar said.
On Kashmir
The long list of fictitious NGOs and think tanks, DisinfoLab reported were weaving an alternative narrative. Particularly on issues close to the Indian State’s interest, DisinfoLab said the think tanks and publications were very active.
According to the Brussels-based NGO, 11 MEPs took part in an October 2019 trip to Jammu and Kashmir, sponsored by the New Delhi-based Srivastava Group.
Moreover, DisinfoLab researchers also revealed that several informal European parliamentary groups, including the South Asia Peace Forum, friends of Gilgit Baltistan, and Friends of Balochistan, were set up or chaired by MEPs who were actively involved in events organized by Indian Chronicles.

The extent to which Israel and India have influenced and corrupted global discourse in favor of their respective crimes in Palestine and Kashmir via Western think tanks, corruptible NGOs and media surrogates is almost immeasurable
CJ Werleman, a journalist and analyst on conflict

Commenting on the use of such platforms to modify global discourse on issues like Kashmir and Palestine, CJ Werleman, a journalist and analyst on conflict said:
“The extent to which Israel and India have influenced and corrupted global discourse in favor of their respective crimes in Palestine and Kashmir via Western think tanks, corruptible NGOs and media surrogates is almost immeasurable.”
Fake advocacy
During its investigation, the DisinfoLab also uncovered an entire network of coordinated UN-accredited NGOs promoting Indian interests and criticizing Pakistan repeatedly. At least 10 of them directly to the Srivastava family, with several other dubious NGOs pushing the same messages.
The deeper dive by DisinfoLab revealed a US-based NGO – accredited to the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) – which had become inactive in the late 1970s was resurrected in 2005.
Not only that, the organization’s former chairman Louis B. Sohn, attended a UN Human Rights Council meeting in 2007 and participated in an event organized by “Friends of Gilgit-Baltistan” in Washington D.C. in 2011 – that too after several years of his passing.
Most of these UN-accredited NGOs, DisinfoLab said work in coordination with non-accredited think-tanks in Brussels and Geneva. Several of them, including the European Organization for Pakistani Minorities, Balochistan House and the South Asia Democratic Forum were ambiguously created by the Srivastava group.
According to DisinfoLab, Indian Chronicles effectively benefited from the track record of these organizations while pursuing their own agenda: discrediting Pakistan and promoting Indian interests at UN conferences and hearings. While these organizations were fronting as NGOs, they were primarily working to manipulate the EU Parliament.

 

[Salman876]

I know we're losing this war, and frankly I don't think we are going to win this. Reasons are simple. The Indians have a way way larger population than us and way more people on the internet that we can. They can spread misinformation in massive numbers, while we cannot do anything at all. It is best to just keep throwing the facts and developing ourselves as a country so people can visit Pakistan and see it for themselves, not having to rely on India Today.

did you saw interview of Dr. Moeed, Pakistan is already doing this

 

[xyx007]

These Indian IT cells are actually government-sponsored to spread propaganda and lies throughout the world. Indians are big fraud; most frauds in Western countries come from India. India is the center of fraud and Terrorism.

 

[That Guy]

And of course this will be completely ignored by western and european governments, because they care more about making money and protecting their national interests, rather than facts.

This news doesn't surprise me at all. Everyone already knew India runs one of the largest and most successful disinformation campaigns in the world. Over the last decade, leaks and studies from highly respected sources have already proved that India cannot be trusted, this new information just reinforces what everyone already knows...

...but in the end, it changes nothing, because those that consider India a part of their plans will ignore this, and those that consider India as being a hindrance or opposed to their plans will continue to distrust India.

 

[Neurath]

did you saw interview of Dr. Moeed, Pakistan is already doing this

Which one exactly? I believe he has multiple intervies.

 

[Imran Khan]

when we were ruled by noora ard zardari ike swine india was cutting our roots with billion dollar fake media . what a sad state

 

[Invicta]

The efforts mentioned aren't meant to give the intel community nightmares - it's part of narrative building and expanding diplomatic space and soft power.

Dr. Moeed puts forward Pakistan's case in ME, FATF, CPEC et al.

If there's one interview that you need to watch, it'd be this.

defence.pk

Thanks for pointing out the link, an eye opener and class interview, shows the clear strategic position of current government in tackling this issue. I did not know the man before but from the interview he seemed switched on and had all the right ideas.

That was a good 30 mins.

 

[Uguduwa]

India is irrelevant in the west. Nobody takes this "propaganda" seriously.