Pakistan being subjected to Fifth-generation warfare, especially in terms of narrative creation
Last month, the EU Disinfo Labs released ‘Indian Chronicles’, an in-depth investigation and expose of a fifteen year-long anti-Pakistan influence operation run by a company called the Srivastava Group and amplified by an Indian news agency called Asian News International or ANI.
The details of the disinformation campaign have been a major revelation for anyone around the world invested in how public discourse is shaped. International coverage of the investigation has been serious and studied.
Maj Gen Babar Iftikhar, the chief of the military’s media wing, said that India is engaged in a massive campaign of ‘fifth-generation warfare’ to obstruct Pakistan’s road to prosperity mainly through targeting the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) and Pakistan’s international image.
Appearing in a wide-ranging interview on Global Village Space, he termed misinformation campaigns against Pakistan on social media as a “major challenge”, but said the country was countering these through transparency and putting out credible information.
“Unfortunately, it’s a major onslaught, it’s a major part of the fifth-generation warfare. Pakistan is being subjected to […] hybrid applications in a massive way and we are aware of that,” the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) director-general said.
When prompted to cite a specific incident of such an attempt, he mentioned the recent explosion in a Karachi building which was framed as a “civil war” in India as an example of irresponsible reporting. “In doing so, the Indian media has lost its credibility to quite an extent and the whole world is recognising that,” he said.
He said in his understanding, fifth-generation warfare was the Indian state using all elements of its national power to systemically focus on and attempt to destabilise certain domains in Pakistan. He listed these domains as Pakistan’s economy, information system, army and international image, for which he cited the example of Indian lobbying in the Financial Action Task Force meetings to discredit Pakistan.
When asked about how such attempts were countered, Maj Gen Iftikhar stated: “Best way to handle this is transparency, […] not leaving information voids and […] passing on credible information.”
He also brought up Pakistan’s practical action in the international arena to bring attention to Indian designs by submitting a dossier on Indian state-sponsored terrorism in Pakistan to the United Nations Secretary General. According to Maj Gen Iftikhar, the dossier and its proofs had been taken seriously at the international level and objectively analysed which had vindicated Pakistan’s stance.
The ISPR chief also highlighted that Chief of Army Staff Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa’s military diplomacy and forays to reach out to the armies of the region and beyond had yielded considerable advantages for Pakistan. Note was made of success in this regard with China, Russia and the Gulf states.
“The outreach whether for training or other exchanges or defence equipment has been very positive,” Maj Gen Iftikhar said.
