Pakistan Army created shadow think tank in US to target Imran Khan back home: Report

As countries across the world are getting ready to deal with the incoming Donald Trump administration in the United States, Pakistan appears to have invented a new approach — quite literally.

It has emerged that Pakistan Army has created a shadow think tank to promote content critical of Imran Khan and his Pakistan Tehrik-i-Insaaf (PTI) and bolster its own image in the United States.

The think tank, Beltway Grid Policy Centre, exists only on the internet and all of its employees appear to be non-existent, according to news portal Drop Site News.

The report comes at a time when Pakistan, where the military-intelligence apparatus reigns supreme, is committing millions for managing the flow of information on the internet. Just this month, it came to light that Pakistani government has allocated 2 billion Pakistani rupees to tackle purported fake news against the state. The initiative appears to be driven by Pakistani military’s information wing Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) with the blessing of Army chief General Asim Munir, according to India Today.

How ‘fake’ think tank was caught

If you would go through the website of Beltway Grid, it would appear to be quite normal.

The content is primarily focussed on South Asia with a focus on Pakistan.

However, if you would search its staff on the internet, you would not be able to connect them to any real person.

The Drop Site News has reported that the website has no physical office, no staffer who can be connected to any real person, and has all the markings of being a fake think tank.

Even though think tanks lobby on behalf of foreign organisations or persons, such lobbying is regulated by law and such organisations have to be registered.

Moreover, the portal notes that even though think tank lobby on behalf of their clients or donors, they never use the word ’lobby’.

The portal noted that the usage of ’lobbying’ in multiple titles, such as Co-ordinator, Lobbying Operations & Policy, along with the usage of phrases common in Pakistan Army’s usage indicate that it’s a fake operation run by the military against Imran Khan, the jailed former premier of Pakistan.

Last month, the Beltway Grid published a report titled ‘Democracy Under Siege: Economic Fallout and Diplomatic Implications of Protests in Pakistan’ that argued that the November 2024 protests by Khan’s party PTI caused higher inflation, decline in currency’s value, and a 0.8 per cent decline in GDP amounting to loss of around 3 trillion Pakistani rupees.

The Drop Site New reported that the figures cited in the report are similar to an internal report of the Pakistan Army that the portal claims to have accessed. This, says the portal, suggests that the think tank is an operation of the Pakistan military to influence opinion in the United States, particularly the opinion of the incoming Trump administration.

The fakeness of the think tank can also be judged by the fact that the organisation started operations without any launch party or physical events which think tanks frequently do to expand their reach, make connects, and set the tone for their work.