No, EAM S Jaishankar Didn’t Claim To Have ‘Afghan Taliban on Our Side'

There is no evidence of EAM S Jaishankar making this statement. The video has been edited.

A video, showing External Affairs Minister (EAM) S Jaishankar speaking at an event is being shared on social media.

What's the claim?: The video is being shared with the following text.

• "India Foreign Minister Jaishankar Said Pakistan Relationship with China USA Bangladesh Growing Faster but India is not alone.We have Afghan Taliban our Side they create pressure Pakistan through proxies they Openly Support 9/11 Terrorists.. (sic)."

What does he say in the video?: In the video, the minister purportedly says that US President Donald Trump "is increasingly fond of Pakistan" and was impressed with their performance during their conflict with India.

• He further says that "India is not alone," because "we have the Afghan Taliban on our side, and they can create pressure across Pakistan through their proxies."

• Toward the end of the video, Jaishankar can be heard saying that Pakistan, China, and Bangladesh "are also moving closer" to form strategic alliances and "potentially destabilise the entire region."

(Archives of more posts sharing this claim can be seen here and here.)

Is it true?: No, the claim is false.

• The video shows EAM S Jaishankar speaking at an Asia Society event in New York, where he neither made the statement in the claim, nor did he say anything similar to what the claim states.

How did we find out the truth?: We noticed that the lectern at which Jaishankar was standing read 'Asia Society'.

• Taking a cue from this, we carried out a search on YouTube with the keywords 'Asia Society S Jaishankar'.

• This led us to the full video as uploaded on Asia Society's YouTube channel, where it was published on 29 September 2026.

• EAM Jaishankar can be seen standing and delivering his address up until the 16:39-minute mark in the video.

• Throughout his address, he described the global landscape as grim and turbulent, defined by a fundamental paradox of intense national competition amidst deep global interdependence.

• He added that this tension tension drove nations to weaponise their leverage, creating 'geographical and financial choke points' that severely complicated international relations, and shifted economic power, disrupted energy markets, and drove new military technologies.

There was no specific mention of Afghanistan, Taliban, Pakistan, or any of the statements made in the claim.

• Jaishankar also noted that noted that a large part of the world faced a "4F crisis," which consisted of severe global challenges regarding food, fuel, fertilisers, and finance

Conclusion: An edited video is being shared to falsely claim that EAM S Jaishankar said that India has the Afghan Taliban on its side to put pressure on Pakistan.

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