A video claiming to show India's Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) Anil Chauhan saying that he was aware the "(Indian) government has surrendered Arunachal Pradesh and Ladakh to China due to our weak air force", is altered and fake.
BOOM found that the voice-over in the clip is entirely fabricated and generated using artificial intelligence (AI). The manipulated video is part of an ongoing disinformation campaign targeting India's military and national leadership.
The Claim: Video shows Chief of Defence Staff Anil Chauhan saying that Indian government has surrendered Arunachal Pradesh and Ladakh
The video was posted on X by the handle @Hawkss_eye with the caption, "Breaking News: Kerala: Reviewing Officer of the Passing Out Parade at Indian Naval Academy, Ezhimala, Chief of Defence Staff, General Anil Chauhan says," Although I am aware that Indian Government has surrendered Arunachal and Ladakh to China due to our weak airforce but be assured that Indian Navy is not weak & Pakistan will never be able to damage any port city of India."
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What We Found
1) AI Deepfake Voice Detection Tool Results:
We ran the 26-second video through two AI deepfake voice detection tools: Hiya Deepfake Voice Detector and DeepFake-O-Meter by UB Media Forensics Lab.
Both tools results confirmed that the voice in the viral video was overlaid onto the original footage. The Hiya Deepfake Voice Detector gave the voice an authenticity score of 13 /100, indicating it’s likely a deepfake, while the DeepFake-O-Meter by UB Media Forensics Lab at the University at Buffalo, confirmed the use of AI, with one of its result giving it a Fake probability of 99.93%.
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2) Original Video
We found that the original video was uploaded on November 29, 2025, by the Indian Navy's official YouTube handle where CDS Chauhan can be seen speaking in the same backdrop as the viral video. CDS Chauhan addressed the Passing Out Parade Autumn term 2025 of the Indian naval academy.
In his speech to navy cadets, he spoke about leadership, disciple and the spirit of service, tecnology and how warfare has become multi-domain with no single service can win a war alone. He did not mention China, Ladakh or Arunachal Pradesh.
This can be seen from the 1.45.01 minutes timestamp below: