A 40-second clip of the Indian Chief of Army Staff (COAS) Upendra Dwivedi 'admitting' that India lost six jets and 250 soldiers was widely shared on social media with claims that the COAS was referring to losses during Operation Sindoor.
In the clip, COAS Dwivedi was heard saying, "Non-kinetic quadrant is something which you can start today and the next war, that we are looking at, and it may happen soon. We have to prepare accordingly, as already brought out by the director. In this, we have to fight this battle together; non-kinetic has to be fought together. We have already lost six jets and 250 soldiers, but we will never give up, we will learn, and we have some deductions. So, what are the deductions? — As far as the whole of the nation approach, we will be there for the next war; it is not the military alone which will be fighting. Let me assure you very clearly on this issue. As far as the grey zone is concerned, it's ever-present and this will remain".
X user The Whistle Blower (@InsiderWB) shared the clip with the caption: "Breaking: Indian Army Chief admits losing 6 jets and 250 soldiers in war against Pakistan." The post has received over 145,000 views and was reshared over 200 times. (Archive)
Several other users, such as @PakArmyc and @javedeqbalpk1, also shared the viral clip claiming COAS Dwivedi admitted to losing six jets and 250 soldiers.
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Fact Check
While verifying the claim, we noticed that the part where the COAS is heard saying 'India lost six jets and 250 soldiers', his voice sounds different than the rest of the video and the lip movements do not match. We have added a comparison below to bring out the difference clearly:
We then found the full speech by the army chief on the ADGPI-INDIA ARMY YouTube channel, posted on August 9, 2025. The COAS made this speech at IIT Madras. The video is 48 minutes long, and the part that is now viral, begins at the 10:59-minute mark.
Here, the COAS mentions the non-kinetic quadrant and the possibility of war, which we also hear in the viral clip. However, he does not say anything about India losing jets or soldiers. Below is a transcript from the relevant portion of his speech:
"Non-kinetic quadrant is something which you can start today, and the next war, that we are looking at, and it may happen soon. We have to prepare accordingly, as already brought out by the director. In this, we have to fight this battle together; non-kinetic has to be fought together. So, what are the deductions? — As far as the whole of the nation approach, we will be there for the next war; it is not the military alone which will be fighting. Let me assure you very clearly on this issue. As far as the grey zone is concerned, it's ever-present and this will remain".
We also ran a relevant keyword search to check if any news outlets covered the COAS's statement on India losing six jets and 250 soldiers, but found none. Considering the significance of the statement, it was unlikely that no media covered it. This raised doubts that the audio used in the video was generated artificially and imposed on the video.
When we used an AI-generated content detector tool --- HIve Moderation --- and found a 98.9% likelihood of that the video had AI or deepfake content.
A fact check by PIB also said that the COAS made no such statement and that part of the video was an AI-generated deepfake.
Therefore, it was clear that the viral clip was a digitally altered version of COAS Upendra Dwivedi's original speech at IIT Madras, with the line: "We have already lost six jets and 250 soldiers, but we will never give up, we will learn, and we have some deductions" added to it. The COAS did not say that in his speech.
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