Indian Army exposes Pakistani deepfake video of Defence Minister Rajnath Singh
NEW DELHI: In yet another attempt to fuel unrest and spread misinformation during the ongoing protests in the national capital, Pakistani propaganda handles have been caught circulating an AI-generated deepfake video falsely attributing inflammatory remarks to Defence Minister Rajnath Singh. Indian authorities have responded with a swift fact-check, exposing the fabricated content as part of a coordinated disinformation campaign targeting India’s defence leadership.
The Indian Army’s official fact-check unit issued a strong clarification on X, warning citizens against falling for manipulated videos and fake narratives being amplified on social media.
According to the Indian Army, Pakistani propaganda accounts circulated a digitally altered video falsely claiming that Rajnath Singh had threatened protesting Gen Z students with the “full force of the state.”
The fabricated video falsely attributed the following statement to the Defence Minister, “If those students don’t stop the protests, the use of full state force will take place at any cost.” The Army stated that Rajnath Singh never made any such remark, and that the statement is entirely fabricated.
Flagging the misinformation, the Army’s fact-check handle said the original video had been manipulated using artificial intelligence-generated audio and misleading captions to create a false narrative.
“Pakistani propaganda accounts are circulating an AI-generated deepfake video of Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, falsely claiming that he threatened protesting Gen Z students with the ‘full force of the state’,” the fact-check stated.
The Army further clarified that the authentic footage had been digitally altered as part of an organised disinformation operation.
“The statement is completely fake and fabricated. The Defence Minister has made no such remarks in the original video. The authentic footage has been digitally manipulated using fabricated audio and misleading captions as part of an ongoing disinformation campaign against senior defence leadership of India,” the clarification said.
The emergence of the deepfake comes amid heightened tensions surrounding protests in Delhi, during which misinformation and manipulated content have witnessed a noticeable spike across social media platforms.
Indian authorities have reportedly intensified efforts to identify and curb coordinated misinformation campaigns, particularly those originating from Pakistan-based propaganda networks attempting to exploit domestic events to create confusion and distrust.
Security agencies have repeatedly warned that hostile actors are increasingly deploying AI-generated content, including deepfake videos and fabricated audio clips, to influence public opinion and undermine confidence in India’s democratic institutions and leadership.
