Indian media falsely blames China for Pakistan’s economic woes
INDIAN media wastes no opportunity in targeting China and Pakistan with its fake news factory churn ing out reports to denigrate both. In its latest campaign of smearing Sino-Pak ties, taking advantage of Pakistan’s economic woes, its ongoing struggles with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to secure loans to stem the tide of hyperinflation, Indian media is falsely blaming China for Pakistan’s economic woes. The economic quagmire that Pakistan finds itself stuck in is the result of financial mismanagement of successive regimes that resorted to wanton borrowing and spending beyond their means. China, Pakistan’s iron brother and all weather strategic partners, has a time tested relationship with. To insidiously imply that somehow China or the CPEC are responsible for Pakistan’s current economic meltdown is not only malicious but also far removed from the truth.
India, which itself boasts of having emerged from a civilization which dates back thousands of years, somehow fails to appreciate the philosophy behind China’s policies, which are based on its ancient wisdom derived from its traditions, culture and values. Blinded by the extremist ideology of Hindutva, which preaches the supremacy of Hindu Brahmin class over all other religions, castes and creeds, Indian rulers in the current regime perceive Chinese policy of “live and let live” with disbelief and suspicion. Guided by Chanakyan stratagem of subterfuge, guile and treachery, Narendra Modi and his ilk employ all their energy in spewing venom against China trying to create misunderstandings to shatter the rock solid Pak-China ties.
Chinese Supreme Leader, Xi Jinping’s prescience and cognition visualized the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) not just as a means for reviving the spirit of cooperation behind the ancient Silk Road but as a roadmap for enabling countries to enjoy prosperity through trade and transit. Over one hundred countries and organizations have so far come on board with their eyes wide open, not at the point of a gun or any sort of blackmail because they were able to grasp the ethos of the mega project. The only countries to oppose BRI are China’s traditional rivals Australia, India, Japan and the US.
The flagship project of BRI is the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) which was expected to be a harbinger of economic prosperity for Pakistan in varied projects comprising agriculture systems, industry, communications, trade, information technology and poverty alleviation. It made a tremendous start and most of the early harvest goals were achieved but political instability, the advent of the global pandemic COVID-19 and numerous other impediments deterred Pakistan from making optimum utilization of the mega project.
A major threat to the mega project has been terror attacks targeting Chinese engineers and technicians working on different projects. The capture of a senior operative of Indian spy agency RAW, Commander Kulbhoshan Jadhav alias Hussain Mubarak Patel spilled the beans on Indian machinations to drive the Chinese away. The Indian master spy confessed to recruiting misled Baluch youth, imparting training in terrorism, as well as arming them and launching them to commit barbaric attacks on Chinese personnel. After Pakistan managed to get a grip on terrorism and rounded up the ringleaders identified by Kulbhoshan Jadhav, India launched a massive fifth generation warfare assault on Pakistan and China through its diplomatic, media and various tools of intrigue.
The exposé by European Union’s DisinfoLab in its 90-page report which unearthed the machinations of an international network funded by organizations with Indian leanings provided detailed disclosures labelled Indian Chronicles comprising 265 fake media outlets, multiple dubious think tanks and NGOs, financed by Indian or pro-Indian entities surreptitiously working to destabilize Pakistan and attempting to drive a wedge between Pakistan and China through its plethora of fake news.
The discovery of Indian Chronicles did not deter India but spurred it into full gear to besmirch Pakistan, tarnish the image of China and create a milieu where Chinese investors, engineers and technicians are forced to withdraw from Pakistan. To achieve this heinous agenda, agent provocateurs have been employed by India to create mayhem through protest rallies and blow the situation out of proportion through its media.
Here are a few examples: Wion TV, Indian TV News Channel’s December 16, 2022 report ‘Pakistan: Gwadar protest leader warns Chinese to leave key port’ available at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kI-ZFaozrb4.
Similarly, OpIndia.com’s February 7, 2023 story: “Gwadar protests: ‘Anti-Chinese’ protests erupt in China’s rental state threatening to unravel the China-Pakistan relationship” at
The above two sources and numerous others repeated in a wide array of Indian media have parroted the story: “Gwadar, the port city located on the south-western coast of Baluchistan, Pakistan, is in news for the past two months due to the ongoing protests led by Maulana Hidayat-ur-Rehman. The Haq Do Tehreek (Give Rights to Gwadar) protests are termed to be anti-Chinese, as the protestors are asking the Chinese nationals to vacate the port area while demanding rights for the local Baluch people.
“Rehman warned Chinese citizens residing in Gwadar that if the government chooses to ignore their peaceful rallies, the populace has the right to take up and use guns and weapons to defend their rights. According to the reports, thousands of protesters in Balochistan have used Chinese nationals as a negotiation chip to get their concerns addressed.” Maulana Hidayat-ur- Rehman, reportedly on the payroll of Indian agencies, after lighting the fire of discord, slipped away from the protests and disappeared from Gwadar but the bottom line of the terror mongers is forcing the Chinese to leave Pakistan in the lurch, without completing CPEC.
To add salt to the wound, a fake story was surreptitiously slipped in on February 3, 2023 by “The Indian Express” stating ‘Can’t provide security to all Chinese nationals; better to hire private security firms: Pakistan’s Punjab government.’ The story was planted in the wake of a deadly terror attack in a mosque in the police lines area of Peshawar city that killed more than 10people, mostly policemen, which could have been plotted by India.
On the one hand, on January 25, 2023, India issued a notice to Pakistan accusing it of being “intransigent” on the implementation of the IWT, officially notifying Pakistan to renegotiate the treaty with the plea that Pakistan is repeatedly indulging in unjustified actions, that are against the spirit and objective of the treaty, to scuttle the Indian projects while on the other, it maliciously posts a fake news on February 3, 2023: ‘China scuttles Pakistan’s Neelum Jhelum Project over delayed payments’, posted at: https://www.aninews.in/news/world/asia/china-scuttles-pakistans-neelum-jhelum-project-over-delayed-payments20230203151741/
Such conspiracies are a product of the tricks taught by Chanakya. Indian aim is two prong: to deny China the use of Gwadar and the shortest route through CPEC to Kashgar simultaneously sabotaging Pakistan’s means of achieving economic prosperity. Indian monstrous designs must be exposed.
—The Author is a Retired Group Captain of PAF, who has written several books on China.
Email: hali@gmail.com
