A video showing Congress MP Shashi Tharoor speaking to India Today journalist Rajdeep Sardesai is being shared on social media, where the former can be heard praising Pakistan's diplomacy while criticising Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
What does he say?: In the video, Tharoor says, "If you saw Donald Trump's latest tweet, crediting Pakistan stepping in to end the Iranian war, you know why I am in shock. It feels like a massive strategic failure by the Indian government."
He says that he had never criticised PM Modi or the Bharatiya Janata Party in the past, but pointed out the "harsh reality" of Pakistan "taking the center stage, rebranding itself as a global net stability provider."
Tharoor went out to speak about India losing its diplomatic capital and losing on the world stage, while celebrating films like Dhurandhar 2.
How do we know?: We looked for the video on India Today's YouTube channel, and found a video of Tharoor and Sardesai which was uploaded on 26 December 2025.
The video clearly predates the recent conflict against Iran by at least three months.
We went through the report, and found no mention of Iran. However, Tharoor defended praising PM Modi's diplomacy in connection with 'Operation Sindoor', saying that there was no such thing as BJP's or Congress' foreign policy, but only India's national interest.
An audio check of this video, using Hiya's Deepfake Voice Detector, showed signs that the audio was AI-generated.
Tharoor also took to X to address the video, saying, "There are an alarming number of deepfake videos circulating of me, with convincing-sounding AI generated voice-overs over genuine footage of old interviews, having “me” saying things I have never said."
Conclusion: A deepfake is being shared to falsely claim that Shashi Tharoor praised Pakistan's diplomacy and admitted to India falling on the global stage.
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