ISLAMABAD: Being one of the countries vulnerable to the spread of foreign propaganda, Pakistan has been experiencing an increasing number of malicious attacks and it needed to “unapologetically” share its side of the story with the world, Moeed Yusuf said.
Speaking at a seminar in Islamabad on national narratives, the national security adviser said Pakistan has long absorbed Western narratives of itself “to the point that even domestically, there is a debate on whether Islamabad’s narrative is the factual one”.
The official said he was was “mind-boggled” by the state of affairs since Pakistan, based on what the country was doing and stood for, had a “real story” to tell the global community.
“There is absolutely no reason to be apologetic about it,” he said.
Yusuf recalled India was spreading disinformation against Pakistan through an organised network of media outlets.
The story of New Delhi against Islamabad was based on fake news and that had been exposed before the entire world, he said, alluding to the Indian Chronicles — a 2020 exposé on the network of dummy Indian media portals disseminating propaganda against Pakistan
Yusuf stressed the need to utilise modern media techniques to share Pakistan’s narrative before the world forcefully.
He also emphasised on adopting a proactive approach to countering the propaganda against Islamabad. The official also underscored the need for harmony among the concerned institutions in building an effective discourse.
He lamented that Pakistan was still “following a conventional model of strategic communication” in promoting its narrative.
“We’re living in the world […] of public relations, press statements [and] responding to [important] developments at our own time,” he said.
“The world has moved onto [diverse] forms of social media, such as Twitter and Facebook, for real-time engagement.”
