Fri 11 December 2020:
Investigation by an independent Brussels-based watchdog reveals pro-Indian campaign aimed at defaming Pakistan
A 15-year-long campaign to “denigrate” Pakistan and Kashmir at international forums has been busted by a Europe-based disinformation watchdog.
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.
“It is the largest network we have exposed,” said Alexandre Alaphilippe, executive director of EU DisinfoLab, which undertook the investigation and published an extensive report on Wednesday.
The network was designed primarily to “discredit Pakistan internationally” and influence decision-making at the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) and European Parliament, EU DisinfoLab said.
EU DisinfoLab partially exposed the network last year but now says the operation is much larger and more resilient than it first suspected.
Last year, the researchers uncovered 265 pro-Indian sites operating across 65 countries, and traced them back to a Delhi-based Indian holding company, the Srivastava Group (SG).
Wednesday’s report, titled Indian Chronicles, reveals that the operation, run by SG, is spread over at least 116 countries and has targeted members of the European Parliament and the United Nations – raising questions about how much EU and UN staff knew about SG’s activities, and whether they could have done more to counter those activities, especially after last year’s report.
Mr Alaphilippe said the EU DisinfoLab researchers had never encountered such co-ordination between different stakeholders to spread disinformation.
“During the last 15 years, and even after being exposed last year, the fact that this network managed to operate so effectively shows the sophistication and the drive of the actors behind Indian Chronicles,” he said.
“You need more than a few computers to plan and sustain such an action,” he said.
The researchers cautioned against “definitively attributing Indian Chronicles to some specific actors such as Indian intelligence services” without further investigation.
REVEALED: Indian Chronicles – how a massive 15-year influence operation successfully targeted the EU & UN with 750+ fake local media and 10+ zombie-NGOs.
Executive Summary & full report: https://t.co/W3IAxQTOqZ
Here are the facts 👇 (1/n) pic.twitter.com/eXW6bh48gv— EU DisinfoLab (@DisinfoEU) December 9, 2020
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.
The EU DisinfoLab report said: “The actors behind the operation hijacked the names of others, tried to impersonate regular media such as the EU Observer… used the letterhead of the European Parliament, registered websites under avatars with fake phone numbers, provided fake addresses to the United Nations, created publishing companies to print books of the think-tanks they owned.
“They used layers of fake media that would quote and republish one another. They used politicians who genuinely wanted to defend women or minority rights to ultimately serve geopolitical interests and gave a platform to far-right politicians when convergent objectives could be reached.”
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
The investigation shows that the operation led by SG began in late 2005, a few months after the UNHRC was founded in its current form.
One of the most important findings of the open-source investigation was establishing direct links between the Srivastava Group (SG) and at least 10 UN-accredited NGOs, along with several others, which were used to promote Indian interests and criticise Pakistan internationally.
The investigations from last year and this year show a man called Ankit Srivastava at the centre of the entire global operation that was uncovered. More than 400 domain names have been bought through Mr Srivastava’s private email address or through email addresses belonging to his organisations, the EU DisinfoLab investigations found.
“In Geneva, these think tanks and NGOs are in charge of lobbying, of organising demonstrations, speaking during press conferences and UN side-events, and they were often given the floor at the UN on behalf of the accredited organisations,” the report says.
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.”
The International Institute of Non-aligned Studies is UN-accredited and openly linked with the Srivastava Group
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
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
According to the findings of the investigation, the disinformation network had a two-pronged strategy to spread influence.
In Geneva, the think-tanks and NGOs were in charge of lobbying and protesting, and taking the floor at the UNHRC on behalf of accredited organisations.
In Brussels, the focus was on the MEPs, who were taken on international trips and solicited to write “exclusive” op-eds for fake outlets like EU Chronicle, which would then be amplified using ANI, the researchers found.
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.
What might happen to the network, or how it might evolve, in the light of the latest investigation is unclear.
The authors of Indian Chronicles say their findings “should serve as a call to action for decision-makers to put in place a relevant framework to sanction actors abusing international institutions”.
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