BEIJING, Feb. 23 (DNA): Political parties from around the World have strongly reacted against some Western countries’ policy of interfering in other countries’ internal affairs under the pretext of human rights.

They opposed the policy while participating in an event, arranged here by the International Department of the CPC Central Committee (IDCPC) and the CPC Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Regional

A total of over 310 leaders and prominent personages representing more than 190 political parties and organisations from 80 plus countries participated in an in-depth discussion on the theme of “A Better Life for All” and reached broad consensus.

All parties were of the view that it is the common goal and responsibility of political parties of all countries to work towards a better life for the overwhelming majority of the people.

They stressed that political parties of all countries should take the improvement of people’s wellbeing as their mission and strive to uplift the sense of fulfilment, happiness, and security thereof.

They have noted that COVID-19 has hit over 200 countries and regions, affected more than 7 billion people around the world and claimed over 2 million lives.

They urged all countries to continue to put the lives, safety and health of the people above everything else by deploying medical expertise and critical supplies to places where they are needed the most, saving lives with all might and main, and further promoting global joint epidemic response so that the pandemic is brought under control at an earliest possible date and the vision of building a global community of health for all appears on the horizon.

They noted that COVID-19 has plunged over 200 million people globally into extreme poverty and inflicted serious impact on the economic and social development of most countries, casting a dark shadow on the prospects of the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

They called on all countries to continue to strengthen coordination on macroeconomic policies, remain steadfast in maintaining the stability of the global financial market as well as that of industrial and supply chains, and to take measures to reduce debts and boost the flow of trade, so that the world economy could soon recover and grow, which will help bring global poverty reduction back on the right track as speedily as possible.

While subscribing to the protection and development of human rights, they pointed out that the right to subsistence and the right to development are principal and fundamental. Poverty constitutes the chief obstacle to the realisation of human rights.

They emphasised that the interests of the people should be placed in the paramount position and development should deliver greater benefit to the entire population in a more equitable manner.

They added, as there is no one-size-fits-all model to advance and protect human rights, the diversity in the path of human rights development should be respected and any attempt to politicise human rights, apply double standards thereof, or to interfere in the internal affairs of other countries under the pretext of human rights should be opposed.

They called for the concerted efforts of all countries to promote the establishment of a global governance architecture on human rights that is more equitable, just and inclusive.

They acknowledged that the Thematic Briefing has enabled them to acquire a comprehensive and in-depth understanding of China’s system of regional ethnic autonomy and the development of areas with large ethnic minority populations, including the actual situation in Xinjiang, where social stability as well as equality and unity among various ethnic groups prevail, people’s livelihood keeps improving and the economy develops constantly.

They expressed appreciation of what the Chinese government has done to promote economic and social development of areas with large ethnic minority populations, and to respect and protect the right of people of all ethnic groups to freedom of religious belief and to use their own spoken and written languages.

They firmly opposed the odious behaviour of a crumb of individuals from certain countries in misleading the international perception and smearing other countries with distorted and fabricated facts and disinformation of cooked-up rumours of so-called China’s “ethnic cleansing” in Xinjiang.

Extending their best wishes to the CPC and the Chinese people on the eve of the centenary of the CPC, they applaud the CPC for its commitment to the original aspiration and founding mission of seeking happiness for the people and rejuvenation for the nation, for its leadership under which the Chinese people have created the miracle of rapid economic development together with the miracle of long-term social stability, and most recently, the major achievements in both COVID response and economic and social development.

They commended the important help China has offered to the global fight against the virus, in particular the honouring of its commitment to make vaccines a global public good.

They expressed their willingness to strengthen exchanges and mutual learning with the CPC on governance experience, and to promote the deepening of mutually beneficial cooperation among countries towards the building of a community with a shared future for mankind.

Mushahid at IRS Conference on Indian Disinformation: India has a clear Pakistan policy of destabilising & disinformation, Pakistan needs Joint Inter-Services Cyber Command to counter hybrid war

DNA

ISLAMABAD, FEB 23 – Chairman of Senate Foreign Affairs Committee, Senator Mushahid Hussain, has said India has a clear Pakistan policy, in which disinformation and destabilisation are key components, while Pakistan needs clarity in its India policy to respond effectively.

He made these remarks at a Conference on ‘Disinformation as a Tool of Strategic Warfare’ organised by the Institute of Regional Studies.

Senator Mushahid Hussain chaired the panel on “India’s Disinformation Campaign against Pakistan and its Impact”. He referred to American scholar Dr Noam Chomsky’s landmark study on propaganda, ‘Manufacturing Consent’, where he talks of a nexus between Media Ownership, Advertisers and Media Elites, which act in concert to demonise the ‘enemy’. Senator Mushahid Hussain said that the Indian approach to disinformation is an example of this model, referring also to the tapes of Indian journalist Arnab Goswami and distortions by Indian media of the Senator’s own statement on Pulwama.

Senator Mushahid Hussain said it was a myth that propaganda was a prerogative of only dictatorships, in fact, democracies like India, Israel and US, too engaged in disinformation and India’s propaganda against Pakistan is unique for three reasons.

First, it is the only example of a neighbour to wage such systematic information warfare against a neighbour in peacetime, belying claims it wants good neighbourly ties. Second, it predates Modi, as this campaign started in 2005.

Third, it was the ‘largest network ever exposed’ of falsehood, lies and disinformation, spread over 750 fake sites, over 10 UN-accredited NGOs, a number of think tanks, using an Indian news agency, ANI, to disseminate disinformation. The scale and sustained nature of of such disinformation is staggering and unprecedented, said the Senator.

And the purpose of this multi-million dollar effort was one: ‘to discredit Pakistan internationally’, as the EU DisinfoLab rightly put it.

Senator Mushahid Hussain also quoted from a recent tweet of Indian defence analyst, Pravin Sawhney, who linked India military’s  withdrawal from the Line of Actual Control with China, to Indian government’s desire ‘to go back to its chosen enemy -Pakistan’ as ‘China was distracting the extremists from their core mission’.

Given this context, Senator Mushahid Hussain proposed the immediate establishment of a Joint Cyber Inter-Services Command to play a pivotal role in the emerging threat of an undeclared hybrid war by India against Pakistan.

He said, for Pakistan, ‘truth is the best weapon’ against India, adding that The Economist had a cover story on ‘Intolerant India’, while The New York Times carried Indian writer Arundhati Roy’s article in which she rightly said ‘RSS is the State in today’s India’ and ‘an architecture of fascism is being erected in India’. These themes reflect the reality of Modi’s India.

There was an animated discussion, including questions and comments, and Senator Mushahid Hussain thanked IRS President, Ambassador Nadeem Riyaz, for reviving the IRS as the preeminent Pakistani think tank on India and South Asia.

ETHIOPIA (DNA) – The Ambassador of Pakistan to Ethiopia, concurrently accredited to Republic of Djibouti Shozab Abbas, presented his credentials to Ismail Omar Guelleh, President of the Republic of Djibouti.

During the bilateral meeting, the President welcomed the Ambassador and expressed his strong desire to build closer partnership with Pakistan including security, trade and science & technology sectors.

The Ambassador highlighted Pakistan’s “Engage Africa Policy” and informed that the Government of Pakistan has decided to open five new Embassies in Africa, the first being in Djibouti, which is reflective of Pakistan’s intention to build bridges of cooperation with Djibouti

The Ambassador emphasized the need to further expand economic, commercial and naval ties between #Pakistan and #Djibouti. Both expressed agreement to bolstering high level political interactions, Parliamentary exchanges and promoting Blue Economy in Arabian Sea region

The Ambassador underscored the desire of the Government of Pakistan to play an important role in IGAD region to promote partnership in all realms of life including agriculture, science & technology, maritime safety and climate change sectors and specifically to mitigate poverty in the region. The Ambassador briefed the President about #CPEC and highlighted that CPEC is instrumental in solidifying our relations with China. The Ambassador also wished to expand Pakistani frontiers of trade with African states.

On Jammu & Kashmir issue, the Ambassador also highlighted the growing atrocities by the Indian government and military in violation of international law and their nefarious efforts to change the geography and demography of #IIOJK.

The President welcomed the laying of undersea Pakistan-East Africa Cable Express (PEACE), linking, at the first stage, Gwadar to Djibouti.

President Ismail Omar Guelleh also appreciated Ambassador’s diplomatic goals and assured his full support for the advancement of friendly relations between the two brotherly countries.