Media outlets reported the investigation conducted by the EU DisinfoLab, a Brussels-based NGO, which exposed a coordinated influence operation to defame Pakistan. The campaign is reportedly being led by the New-Delhi-based Srivastava Group and peddled by Asia News International (ANI), an Indian news agency.
The operation aims to malign countries that are on the wrong side of India in the region. Their targets include Pakistan and China to some extent.
The operation is ultimately trying to promote India’s global image, thereby enabling it to garner support from international bodies such as EU and the United Nations (UN).
The DisinfoLab research has shown that the campaign has been going on for the past 15 years, and has made use of over 750 fake media outlets, and more than 550 domain names in 119 countries to promote pro-Indian and anti-Pakistan sentiments. According to the researchers, the said websites are not directly linked to the Indian government, but they have been tracked down to an Indian group called the Srivastava Group, based in New Delhi.