Pakistan’s former ambassador to the US, China and the United Nations and former President of Azad Jammu and Kashmir Sardar Masood Khan said in a statement on Monday that Pakistan must prepare at the national level to counter disinformation and misleading campaigns. Issuing a stark warning, Sardar Masood said that modern conflicts are fought with words and algorithms, and as a nuclear power, Pakistan’s survival depends on investing in national-level digital resilience to counter the growing threat of AI-driven disinformation campaigns.
Addressing a seminar organized by the Center for Law and Security (CLAS), the former ambassador to the US, China, and the United Nations stressed that Pakistan must urgently prepare for the AI era through improved digital literacy and effective narrative building.
Drawing on his extensive diplomatic experience, Khan explained that while the use of propaganda is as old as history, artificial intelligence has armed it with “unprecedented speed, scale, and sophistication.”
He warned that AI-generated content, deepfakes, and algorithmic manipulation have transformed public perception into a modern battlefield where narrative-building plays a central role in national security.
Khan warned that if fake news is not countered timely and accurately, millions can accept it as reality in moments, a process that can severely damage national unity and create social chaos.
For Pakistan to adopt an effective strategy, he emphasized the need for ground-reality-based measures, including the formation of a coherent national narrative strengthened by political, economic, and social stability. “If a nation is internally divided, its narrative becomes vulnerable to external propaganda,” he said.
Praising Pakistan’s digital advancements, including the teaching of subjects like AI and cybersecurity in its 275 universities, Khan stressed that it is essential to ensure information integrity alongside technological progress.
He urged state institutions like ISPR, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and the Ministry of Information to complete their preparations according to modern digital requirements. He also said that citizens must have the awareness to recognize and reject false narratives, calling a digitally literate populace a “strategic asset.”
Citing recent Indian propaganda, Khan asserted that Pakistan has always presented a responsible, fact-based position, which ultimately resulted in India’s “exaggerated campaigns” being exposed before its own media and public.
The former diplomat urged research institutions and think tanks to develop legal and institutional frameworks against disinformation and to devise law-based strategies to counter information warfare.
In his concluding remarks, Khan stated that for a nuclear power and emerging economy like Pakistan, investing in digital resilience is not an option but a necessity for survival. “In today’s world, wars are fought not just with weapons, but with words, algorithms, and perceptions,” he told policymakers, academics, and the media, conveying the message that the nation’s future must be determined by truth, not technology.