Pakistani Propaganda Accounts Spread Deepfake of Former Indian Army Chief's NDTV Interview

General VP Malik (retired) speaks to NDTV

New Delhi:

Pakistani propaganda accounts have circulated a deepfake version of NDTV journalist Shiv Aroor's interview with General VP Malik (retired). The manipulated video falsely attributes communal statements to the former Indian Army chief that he never actually made.

Fact-checking organization D-Intent Data has thoroughly debunked this propaganda being spread by Pakistani accounts on X, formerly known as Twitter.

The deepfake recording depicts General Malik discussing topics such as "religious wars" and other communal subjects that are completely foreign to India's armed forces' principles. The manipulation clearly reveals the malicious intent behind the Pakistani accounts' actions.

"FACT: Pakistani propaganda accounts are circulating a digitally altered video of former Indian Army Chief Gen. V.P. Malik, falsely claiming that he endorsed an alleged RSS plan to remove 50 per cent 'non-caste Hindus' from the Army within the next three years," D-Intent Data stated in an X post, sharing both the authentic interview and the fabricated version side by side.

"These claims are entirely fake and fabricated. The video has been digitally manipulated. Gen. V.P. Malik has made no such statement in the original footage. Furthermore, narratives about the saffronisation of the Indian Army or reducing non-caste Hindu soldiers are baseless, and stem from ongoing Pakistani misinformation propaganda against India," the fact-checking website emphasized.

According to D-Intent Data, the objective of these propaganda accounts was to distribute "digitally altered videos of [the] former Indian Army Chief VP Malik with self-invented claims to set their narrative against India."

Pakistan has been resentful since India targeted its airbases and terror infrastructure during Operation Sindoor.

Recent intelligence information obtained by NDTV earlier this month indicated a concerning increase in Pakistan-supported terrorist activities targeting Jammu and Kashmir Union Territory.

Six months following Operation Sindoor, a precision counter-terrorism campaign launched in response to the Pahalgam terror attack, reports suggest that Pakistan-based terrorist organizations, particularly Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) and Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM), are preparing for a new series of coordinated attacks.

Officials in New Delhi have characterized this intelligence as a "critical warning" and confirmed that the Indian Army and intelligence networks remain on high alert throughout the northern sectors.

Operation Sindoor was not intended as a singular action. It may soon enter a renewed phase if Pakistan continues to export terrorism unabated.