AI-Manipulated Clip of Former COAS General Manoj Pande Goes Viral

There is no evidence to prove that he indeed made such remarks about the Indian army.

Fact-Check | The video has been manipulated using the help of AI.

(Photo: Altered by The Quint)

A purported video of former Chief of Army Staff (COAS), General Manoj Pande (Retired), is going viral with a claim that it shows him saying that supporting Israel has caused the Indian army to become an "ethnic force".

What was he heard saying?: The 45-seconds-long clip showed General Pande saying, "You know the biggest loss of supporting Israel? Our Indian army had always been trained to be a ethical force, the current situation is causing it to become an ethnic force. Mark my words, this situation is going towards a complete mutiny. We have all seen what is happening in Assam..."

An archive of the post can be found here.

(Source: X (formerly Twitter)/Screenshot)

As of writing this report, this above post had gained over two lakh views. You can view archives of other such claims here, here, and here.

What's the truth?: The video has been manipulated using the help of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and does not show real visuals.

How did we find that out?: Using the help of Google Lens search, we conducted a reverse image search on the keyframes of the viral video.

• This directed us to a video posted on the official X handle of news wire Press Trust of India (PTI), which showed General Pande dressed in the same attire.

• It was uploaded on 14 March with a caption that said, "VIDEO | Delhi: Former Chief of Army Staff, Gen Manoj Pande (Retd.) says, "We live in a complex world. We should not only be able to deal with the current security challenges, but also anticipate the future. Once you've anticipated, you have to prepare yourself accordingly. You have to have those capabilities which will enable you to effectively fight future wars. The armed forces have to be future ready..."."

What did a detection tool show?: Team WebQoof passed the video through a tool named 'DeepFake-O-Meter' to further verify its authenticity. Five of its detectors conclusively showed that the viral clip was indeed generated/manipulated using the help of AI tools.

Five detectors showed that the video was indeed AI-generated/manipulated.

(Source: DeepFake-O-Meter/Screenshot)

PIB debunks the claim: The official X handle of Press Information Bureau's (PIB) fact-checking wing clarified that the video was a deepfake.

• The post shared on 16 March further said, "Beware! This is an #AI-generated deepfake video. Former Chief of Army Staff Gen. Manoj Pande (retd.) has NOT made such a statement."

Conclusion: It is evident that the video has been manipulated and does not carry any real remarks made by General Pande.

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