A video circulating on social media claims to show India’s Chief of Defence Staff General Anil Chauhan stating that seven fighter jets were lost during “Operation Sindoor” against Pakistan in May 2025.
BOOM found that the video has been digitally manipulated, with an AI-generated segment being inserted into a recent speech by Chauhan at an event in New Delhi.
This viral clip is part of a wider pattern of AI-manipulated media targeting Indian military officials in the aftermath of recent border tensions with Pakistan and ensuing disinformation campaigns following Operation Sindoor. BOOM recently fact-checked a similar deepfake of Deputy CDS General Rahul R Singh, where he purportedly admitted to losing S-400 defence systems to Chinese missiles used by Pakistan.
The Claim
Multiple users on X (archive) and Facebook (archive) shared a video in which General Anil Chauhan appears to say, “It’s important to acknowledge here that although we lost seven Indian jets we went airborne again after just three days and that alone shows our resilience. Our preparedness level has to be very high in 24X7X365 days. Again coming back to the same point that an officer today needs to be much more well read so that we can contribute to this particular aspect of securing a nation.”
He can then be heard stating, “And in the same spirit it must also be said our Hindu ideology stands for peace. Yes we did ask for a ceasefire not out of weakness but because we did not want South Asia to suffer the horrors of an all-out war. Peace after all is the higher path. I’ve actually given you a number of examples."
What We Found
BOOM found that the viral video has been digitally altered, with an AI-generated segment being inserted into a real footage of Chauhan giving a speech at a recent event.
Original video does not contain the viral statement: Through a reverse image search BOOM traced the video to Chauhan’s speech at a recent seminar in New Delhi on July 25, 2025. We accessed a footage of the speech, live-streamed by ANI, and were unable to find any admission of loss of seven jets during Operation Sindoor. A shorter version was also published by PTI.
Manipulated segments interlaced with real footage: At the 20:29 mark in the video published by ANI, Chauhan can be heard saying, “As was said earlier that there are no runner ups in war and we'll be giving examples of Operation Sindoor which still continues.” This segment can be found in the viral video.
Following this, he states, "Our preparedness level has to be very high in 24X7X365 days. We are living in that kind of environment and it’s only scholar warriors that can ensure this readiness by thinking differently, connecting the dots across this complete kind of a spectrum. I’ve actually given you a number of examples. Initially when we said that we thought that no scholar warrior should be a single gentleman actually..” Portions of this segment can be found interspersed in the viral video.
This indicates that the viral video contains real footage from Chauhan's recent speech, interlaced with potentially synthetic portions.
Segments being repeated in viral video: Certain segments of the speech can be heard being repeated which further indicate manipulation. For example, he repeats, "…they do run us up in war and this will be giving examples of Operation Sindhoor which still continues." He can also be heard repeating, "Our preparedness level has to be very high in 24X7X365 days. Again coming back to the same point that an officer today needs to be much more well read so that we can contribute to this particular aspect of securing a nation.”
Segments missing from original video: Comparing the videos published by ANI and PTI, we found the following segments in the viral video that did not feature in original streaming:
- "It’s important to acknowledge here that although we lost seven Indian jets we went airborne again after just three days and that alone shows our resilience."
- "And in the same spirit it must also be said our Hindu ideology stands for peace. Yes we did ask for a ceasefire not out of weakness but because we did not want South Asia to suffer the horrors of an all-out war. Peace after all is the higher path."
Visual inconsistencies: Certain visual inconsistencies further indicate the presence of AI-led tampering. At the 1:28 mark in the viral video, the podium appears to shift for a short duration, during which one of the mic appears to be floating mid-air (as can be seen below).
In the viral video, the watermark of ANI appears to be distorted as compared to the original watermark, along with Chauhan's name tag and the insignia on his uniform.
Chauhan's earlier statements on Operation Sindoor: Speaking to the media in early June, Chauhan did acknowledge the loss of jets to Pakistan during the conflict following Operation Sindoor. In an interview to Bloomberg, he had also added that Pakistan's claim of downing six Indian Air Force jets were incorrect.
BOOM has escalated the viral clip with its deepfake detection partners at the Deepfakes Analysis Unit, and the story will be updated upon receiving the detection analysis results.
