When a photograph of Pakistan’s Army Chief Gen. Asim Munir and Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif presenting gemstones to the United States President Donald Trump went viral, the stones themselves became secondary. What should have been a symbolic diplomatic gesture, a display of Pakistan’s natural wealth and cultural heritage, was twisted online into a tale of “selling off rare earths to America.”

The distortion came not only from predictable quarters in India, where anti-Pakistan disinformation has long been industrialized, but also from Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI)-aligned accounts. That second part raises uncomfortable questions for Pakistan’s domestic politics.

Gems Are Not Rare Earths

First, the basics. The specimens in the photograph were aquamarine, topaz, peridot, tourmaline, and quartz, gemstones valued by collectors and jewelers. They are traded openly in markets across Gilgit-Baltistan, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and Balochistan. Pakistan has thousands of small traders exporting gems legally, through recognized markets in Bangkok, Dubai, and Europe.

Rare earth elements (REEs) are an entirely separate category. 17 metallic elements used in electronics, renewable energy, and defense technologies. They are not gemstones, and no geologist would confuse one for the other.

Which means the online narrative was not a mistake. It was a deliberate misrepresentation.

The Global Context of Resource Development

Even if Pakistan had been presenting rare earths instead of gemstones, why the outrage? No country develops such resources in isolation. Mining and processing require capital, technology, and markets, all of which involve foreign partnerships.

Saudi Arabia, for instance, has invited US, Chinese, and Australian firms to explore its critical mineral reserves as part of Vision 2030. The United Arab Emirate has partnered with Western and Asian companies in energy and mining concessions. Across Africa, joint ventures between local governments and international firms are standard practice.

Even India, quick to accuse others, has signed agreements with Australian and Japanese companies to access rare earth processing technologies, acknowledging that its own capacity is limited.

The truth is that mountains, whether in the Hindukush, the Arabian ranges, or the Andes, guard resources that no single nation can unlock alone. The question is never whether partnerships exist, but whether they serve the people at the foot of those mountains.

Resource partnerships are not selling off sovereignty. They are the global norm. The real measure is how governments regulate, tax, and protect the strategic interests of their people.

Pakistan’s Sovereign Frameworks

Pakistan’s rare earths and critical mineral deposits, from Chitral to Thar, fall under sovereign federal and provincial mining frameworks. Strategic minerals are safeguarded through state policy, not handed over via handshakes or photo-ops.

Every exploration project requires agreements vetted by regulatory and parliamentary oversight, subject to taxation and export rules. Pakistan has never “sold off” strategic minerals in backroom deals, nor can it under its legal regime.

To suggest otherwise is not only geologically false, it is politically mischievous.

Disinformation Playbook

Indian accounts have long peddled narratives portraying Pakistan as unstable, irresponsible, or selling its assets under duress. This fits a textbook disinformation strategy: conflate, distort, and repeat until perception outweighs fact. By painting gemstones as rare earths, the propaganda aims to cast Pakistan as reckless with its resources and leadership as compromised.

What is newer, and more troubling, is the amplification of this same narrative by PTI-aligned handles. Opposition politics is natural, even necessary. But when domestic actors echo foreign propaganda lines against national institutions, the cost is borne by Pakistan’s credibility abroad.

This is not the first instance. From border clashes to IMF negotiations, and from military operations in Khyber Pakhtunkhaw (KP) against Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) to diaspora lobbying for sanctions, PTI-linked accounts have repeatedly circulated narratives that mirror Indian talking points, whether intentionally or otherwise. The result is political point-scoring at the expense of Pakistan’s international standing.

The Economic Stakes

The irony is that Pakistan stands to benefit greatly from responsibly developing its mineral wealth, whether gemstones, copper, lithium, or rare earths. Properly managed, these sectors could diversify the economy, generate export revenues, and create jobs far beyond the extractive sites.

Criticizing the very idea of showcasing Pakistan’s natural wealth, even symbolically, does not weaken the government, it weakens the case for investment. Investors seek confidence that a country believes in its own potential, not that it dismisses its resources as liabilities.

Toward Responsible Discourse

The viral photograph and the manufactured outrage around it may fade, but the pattern will repeat unless challenged. Pakistan cannot afford a political culture where domestic rivalries override national interests, and where online narratives undermine serious policy debates on resource development.

Regional rivals will continue to exploit every opportunity to cast Pakistan in a negative light. That is a given. But Pakistanis must decide whether to amplify those narratives or counter them with facts, context, and confidence in their own sovereignty.

At stake is more than the reputation of leaders in a photograph. It is the credibility of Pakistan as a nation capable of responsibly managing its resources and shaping its own economic destiny.

Pakistan’s resources are not for barter, nor is its sovereignty up for trade. To mistake gems for rare earths is ignorance; to weaponize that confusion is disinformation, and it must be called out as such.

Also See: A New Era of Diplomatic Realignment