A video of a military drill is being shared on the social media platforms with a claim that it shows China recently performing massive drills in the Himalayas amid heightened tensions between India and Pakistan.
What did the viral post say?: An X (formerly Twitter) premium user shared the clip with a caption that said, "Exclusive: As India-Pakistan tensions reach a boiling point, China flexes its muscle with massive military drills in the shadow of the Himalayas."
The above post had gained over a lakh views on the platform at the time of writing this report. More archives of similar claims can be found here and here.
What is the truth?: The claim is misleading. The viral clip could be traced back to at least 12 April, which predates the Pahalgam terror attack and the tensions between India and Pakistan.
How did we find that out?: On conducting a reverse image search on the keyframes of the viral clip, we came across the same visuals published on an Instagram handle called 'flamingwheelsmedia'.
The video was shared on 12 April with a caption that loosely translated to, "High fire all the way! Battle shooting test and national wind BGM are too good."
This makes it clear that the viral clip predates the Pahalgam terror attack that happened on 22 April.
Other sources: The same visuals were also shared on Hebei Daily on 12 April with a caption that said, "The whole process is exciting! The combat shooting assessment and the Chinese style BGM are a perfect match."
Xinhua Net, too, shared the video saying that a certain army unit had organised a multi-subject combat shooting assessment.
Conclusion: While we could not independently verify the location or context of the video, it is clear that the visuals predate the Pahalgam terror attack.
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