This viral video of CDS Anil Chauhan allegedly stating that the Indian government surrendered Arunachal Pradesh, Ladakh to China is fake
A video circulating widely on social media (here, here, and here) claims to show India’s Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) Anil Chauhan blaming the Indian Air Force and alleging that the government has surrendered Arunachal Pradesh and Ladakh to China. In the clip, the CDS is allegedly heard saying, “I want to assure our naval officers that we should never lose hope. Although I’m aware that the Indian government has surrendered Arunachal and Ladakh to China due to our weak air force. But be assured that the Indian Navy is not weak, and Pakistan will never be able to damage any port city of India. Even on May 10th, Pakistani naval ships could not reach Gujarat. Their drones did, which is a failure of air defence, not us.” Let’s verify the claim made in the post in this article.
Claim: The video shows CDS Anil Chauhan stating that the Indian government surrendered Arunachal Pradesh, Ladakh to China due to a weak air force.
Fact: The video is digitally manipulated. In the original clip, CDS Anil Chauhan was addressing the Passing Out Parade of the Indian Naval Academy, where he spoke about leadership, discipline, technology, and multi-domain warfare. He did not make any statement about surrendering Arunachal Pradesh and Ladakh to China. The audio in the viral clip is digitally added and is not part of his speech. AI voice-detection tools also indicate that the audio is likely a deepfake. PIB Fact Check has confirmed that the circulating clip is fake and was created using AI to spread misinformation about the Indian Armed Forces. Hence, the claim made in the post is FALSE.
We searched for news reports using relevant Google keywords to verify whether Chief of Defence Staff Anil Chauhan had made any statement suggesting that India surrendered Arunachal Pradesh and Ladakh to China due to a weak air force. We did not find any credible media reports or official statements supporting this claim.
We then conducted a reverse image search of key frames from the viral video, which led us to the original footage uploaded on the official YouTube channel of the Indian Navy on 29 November 2025. In this video, CDS Anil Chauhan is seen speaking in the same setting as in the viral clip. He was addressing the Passing Out Parade of the Indian Naval Academy’s Autumn Term 2025, where he spoke about leadership, discipline, the spirit of service, technology, and how modern warfare has become multi-domain, with no single service capable of winning a war alone. He did not refer to China, Ladakh, or Arunachal Pradesh.
This confirms that the viral video has been digitally manipulated. The audio in the clip was digitally added to the visuals from her original speech and is not part of CDS Anil Chauhan’s actual address.
We then analysed the viral video using the Hiya AI voice detection tool. The results indicate that the audio in the clip is likely a deepfake. This confirms that the video is fake and digitally altered, with the original visuals paired with manipulated audio.
Additionally, an X post by PIB Fact Check dated 29 November 2025 debunked the viral video. The post stated that propaganda accounts were circulating a “digitally altered” clip of Chief of Defence Staff General Anil Chauhan, falsely claiming that the Indian Government had surrendered Arunachal Pradesh and Ladakh to China due to a weak air force.
To sum up, this viral video of CDS Anil Chauhan allegedly stating that the Indian government surrendered Arunachal Pradesh, Ladakh to China is fake