NEW DELHI: In a revelation confirming the close working relationship between Pakistan and China’s intelligence agencies, Meta, the parent company of Facebook, Instagram, Threads, and WhatsApp, has dismantled a network operated from China with the intention of promoting Khalistani sentiments among Sikh communities in Australia, Canada, India, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, Nigeria, and Pakistan.
According to Meta’s investigation, this network operated 37 Facebook accounts, 13 Pages, five Groups, and nine Instagram accounts, and also used other social media platforms including Telegram and “X” (formerly Twitter). Investigators found that the handlers behind this network were also involved in activities uncovered by Meta in 2023 that spread misinformation impacting India and the Tibet region.
However, the number of such networks is likely to be in the hundreds, Indian officials believe, much of which is yet to be discovered.
The modus operandi of this network was to amplify the content of one another, with most of their engagement coming from their own fake accounts to make their campaign appear more popular than it was.
“This operation used compromised and fake accounts to pose as Sikhs, post content, and manage Pages and Groups. They appeared to have created a fictitious activist movement called Operation K, which called for pro-Sikh protests, including in New Zealand and Australia. They posted primarily in English and Hindi about news and current events, including images likely manipulated by photo editing tools or generated by artificial intelligence, in addition to posts about floods in the Punjab region, the Sikh community worldwide, the Khalistan independence movement, the assassination of Hardeep Singh Nijjar, and criticism of the Indian government,” Meta investigators said.
These pages were followed by about 2,700 accounts, over 1,300 accounts were part of these groups, and fewer than 100 accounts followed one or more of these Instagram accounts.
Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) and China’s Ministry of State Security (MSS) have long collaborated on anti-India projects, with China providing the technology and ISI, due to its familiarity with the language and culture, providing content related to project “K2”—an abbreviation for “Kashmir-Khalistan” aimed at spreading disturbance in Kashmir and propagating Khalistani elements.
ISI has a dedicated desk headed by a major rank officer responsible for handling and executing “Khalistan” related activities in India and worldwide.
Last year in May, a senior retired decorated Pakistan Army officer, Aadil Farooq Raja, confirmed how ISI was funding and supporting Khalistani armed groups in India and facilitating the entry of drugs and fake Indian currency notes into India. Raja, commenting on the 6 May killing of the chief of Khalistani Commando Force (KCF), Paramjit Singh Panjwar, who was given a new identity as Malik Sardar Singh by ISI and was gunned down in Lahore, criticized the Pakistan military and ISI for failing to protect Panjwar. Raja claimed that Panjwar was killed in Lahore in an operation executed by the Indian intelligence agency, Research and Analysis Wing (R&AW). Sources revealed Panjwar was receiving monthly payouts from the MSS. Raja stated, “Panjwar had kept the KCF alive until now. He was the man behind ‘udta Punjab’ and he was sending heroin to Punjab. He was the main link between handlers, drug peddlers in India and Pakistan. Panjwar used Radio Pakistan to propagate Khalistani propaganda in Pakistan and India. He was involved in drug distribution and Fake Indian Currency Trade (FICN) which was necessary as he had to raise funds to keep the issue of Khalistan alive.”
Similarly, in April, Indian official sources tracking developments in the Northeast warned that Pakistan’s Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Asim Munir, during his four-day visit to China, was directed to take steps to pressure India in the Northeast, specifically Arunachal Pradesh, by Chinese agencies. Post this visit, the Dhaka desk of ISI became highly active.