Pakistan pushes for stronger media cooperation at D-8 forum in Azerbaijan

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s Information Minister Attaullah Tarar led the country’s delegation to the D-8 Media Forum in Azerbaijan, a platform dedicated to enhancing cooperation among member states and promoting truthful, impartial, and responsible journalism. The forum brought together media leaders, policymakers, and experts to address the rapidly changing global information environment.

The event opened with Hikmet Hajiyev, Assistant to the President of Azerbaijan and Head of Foreign Policy Department, presenting President Ilham Aliyev’s message to participants. In his address, the President highlighted the fast-evolving media landscape and warned of the growing dangers posed by disinformation, fake news, hybrid threats, deepfakes, and the misuse of artificial intelligence. He emphasized that these challenges are reshaping global narratives at an unprecedented pace.

Minister Tarar’s visit began with a productive meeting with D-8 Secretary General Ambassador Isiaka Abdulqadir Imam, during which both sides agreed to broaden media collaboration, expand cultural exchanges, and initiate joint training programmes aimed at capacity building for member countries.

In his keynote speech at the forum, Tarar described disinformation as the world’s biggest media challenge. Citing the recent Pakistan–India tensions, he noted how an “information war” played out online, largely driven by Gen-Z users. To address these emerging threats, he proposed several initiatives, including a joint D-8 social media platform, collaborative fact-checking units, crisis-reporting workshops, digital forensics training, and AI content labelling to clearly distinguish real news from AI-generated material.

The Pakistani delegation also visited Azerbaijan’s AnewZ headquarters, exploring opportunities for joint digital production and future collaboration with Pakistan Television.

A panel session on “Strategic Communications and Crisis Management” featured Pakistan TV’s Head, Adil Shahzeb, who welcomed Azerbaijan as the newest D-8 member and backed the proposal to establish a D-8 media centre in Baku. He underscored that strategic communication and crisis management are now essential pillars of national security, public diplomacy, and effective media governance.