New Delhi: The Press Information Bureau (PIB) Fact Check unit has exposed a digitally altered video circulating on social media via Pakistani propaganda accounts that falsely attributes statements to Lieutenant General Manjinder Singh, Commander of the South Western Army.

The fake AI-generated video wrongly claims that Lt Gen Singh criticised the Indian Army's exercises as "political optics to boost the image for the Bihar elections" and made remarks about serving the nation versus serving a party.

PIB clarified that Lt Gen Manjinder Singh has never made such claims. In the genuine video recorded in Bikaner, Rajasthan, he discussed the Indian Army's preparedness and training, highlighting the importance of night training and technological advancements. He stated, "The Indian Army is following the political direction of the 'New Normal', under which any terror act on the country will be considered an 'act of war'... Our focus is on maximum night training; hence, we are carrying out 70% of the training at night and 30% during the day."

The altered video falsely shows Lt Gen Singh saying, "We all know these so-called threshold exercises are being pushed for optics to boost the image for Bihar elections, but remember we serve India, not any party... They may try to saffronise our image, but the Indian Army belongs only to the Republic, not to Modi."

PIB warned that this AI-generated fake video is being spread to mislead people and foster distrust against the Indian Armed Forces and urged users to verify information before sharing misleading content on social media.

With inputs from ANI