Multiple people on social media platform X shared two separate videos on Friday and Monday, claiming to show Indian army officials criticising recent tri-military exercises as a political move to boost the image for the upcoming Bihar elections. However, the videos are dubbed over.

India kicked off large-scale combined military exercises named ‘Trishul 2025’ near its western border on October 30 amid heightened regional tensions. The war games, involving armoured divisions, fighter aircraft and advanced drone systems, are being held across Rajasthan and Punjab to test rapid deployment capabilities. Indian defence officials have described the drills as routine preparedness measures.

Meanwhile, upcoming elections are scheduled in Bihar, India, for the state’s legislative assembly from November 6-11, 2025.

On Friday, an X account, that appears to be anti-Indian based upon its previous posts and is known for repeatedly sharing AI-altered videos, posted a clip with the following caption: “Breaking news: Bikaner, Rajasthan | South Western Army Commander Lt Gen Manjinder Singh says, ‘We all know these so called threshold exercises are being pushed for political optics to boost the image of incumbent government before Bihar elections but still we will give our best because we are professional soldiers, not saffron mobs.’”

The post gained over 38,100 views.

The transcript of the video is provided below:

“Soldiers, we all know these so-called threshold exercises are being pushed for political optics to boost image for the Bihar elections. But remember, we serve India, not any party. Our duty is to defend the nation, not to become props in political theatre.

They may try to saffronise our image, but the Indian army belongs only to the republic, not to Modi, not to any ideology. We will perform our duties with professionalism, go to these exercises with discipline, and show the world that the Indian army stands for India, not for politics. Jai Hind.”

The same video with similar claims was shared by multiple pro-Pakistani accounts on X, as can be seen here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, and here, colelctively gaining 35,000 views.

Separately today, an Indian account that appears to be anti-BJP, based upon its previous posts, shared a video of Indian Colonel Sofia Qureshi at a press briefing with the caption: “These Trishul exercises are nothing but a political gimmick to sway the Bihar elections. I’m done being used as a prop for Muslim support. I can’t stand the saffronisation of the Indian Army.”

In the video, which had a watermark of Indian news agency ANI, the Indian military officer could be heard saying: “Today, I stand here not as a political pawn but as a soldier of the Indian army. For two and a half years, I have served my country with pride, until I realised we were being used as props to divide our own citizens.

“The saffronisation of our ranks is a betrayal of every oath we took. Our job is to defend India, not the ideology of the BJP or RSS. These so-called Trishul exercises before the Bihar elections are nothing but a theatre to fool the nation. Uniforms are being printed in ideology, not honour.

“This must stop now. If speaking the truth costs my uniform, so be it. I still stand with India, not with hate.”

The post gained 47,000 views.

The video and claim were also shared by a Pakistani propaganda account, based on its previous posts, with the caption: “Breaking News: Col Sofya Qureshi explodes on live TV, ‘These Trishul exercises are nothing but a political gimmick aimed at manipulating the Bihar Elections. I am sick and tired of being used as a prop for Muslim support. I can’t stand with saffronization of the Indian army’.”

The post racked up 29,400 views.

Others on X also shared the video along with the claim, as can be seen here, here, here, here, here, and here, collectively garnering over 20,000 views.

Fact-checks were initiated to determine the veracity of the claims due to their virality and keen public interest in the purported political statements attributed to Indian military officers amid regional tensions.

Analysing the first video using the forensic tool Hive Moderation to determine the authenticity of the video shows it detected 99.8 per cent potential AI manipulation.

A reverse-image search conducted to trace the original footage yielded an X video uploaded on October 30, 2025, by Indian news outlet IANS with the following caption: “Bikaner, Rajasthan: Sapta Shakti Command Manjinder Singh says, ’The Indian army is following the political direction of new normal, under which, any terror act in the country will be considered as act of war. And the military has to prepare for any such activities … A lot of technologies and capabilities have been introduced for this… Our focus is on maximum night training, hence we are carrying out 70 per cent of the training at night and 30pc of it during the day.“

In the video, Singh delivered an address during a press conference after witnessing an exercise codenamed “Sentinel Strike” at the Mahajan Field Firing Range (Thar Desert). At no point did he discuss Indian domestic politics or make any remarks about the politicisation of the Trishul exercises.

The briefing was covered by multiple Indian media outlets such as WION news and The Economic Times, but did not mention any criticism of the Indian army’s alleged politicisation.

Analysing the second video using the forensic tool AI Video Detector shows that the clip was flagged as “suspicious” with a 60pc deepfake probability score. Deepware, another tool, also detected it as suspicious with an 84pc deepfake score.

Additionally, a reverse image search conducted to trace the original footage yielded an X video uploaded on October 31, 2025, by Indian news outlet ANI. It stated that Col Sofia spoke at the Young Leaders Forum in Delhi.

“Colonel Sofiya Qureshi says … responsibilities for defending a nation are not just the military’s game; civilians also play a role in addressing external and internal threats … Over the years, the Indian army has trained officers and troops in ‘Saashtra’ and ‘Shashtra’,” the caption of the post read.

It added: “‘Saashtra’ means knowledge, strategy, and wisdom, while ‘Shashtra’ means weaponry and warfare, representing a blend of intellect and strength … Every generation has carried the flame of patriotism, from baby boomers to Gen Z … Be it seven decades ago or Operation Sindoor, you all have witnessed it … You, the ‘Yuva Shakti of Bharat,’ you are the force of multipliers. You are not only trained in firepower, but also in the firewalls. You are ready to face kinetic and non-kinetic domains … War is not only fought in bunkers or with bullets, but also with bites and bandwidths.”

The reverse image search also yielded the full video of Col Sofia’s speech uploaded on YouTube by ANI. In the clip, Col Sofia spoke about the Indian youth and the role they play in national security.

However, at no point did she discuss Indian domestic politics or make any remarks about the politicisation of the Trishul exercises.

Her speech was covered by multiple Indian media outlets such as WION News, Indian Economic Observer and Hindustan Times. None of the reports mentioned any criticism of the alleged politicisation of the Indian army or of the tri-military exercises as a political gimmick.

Therefore, the fact-checks determined that the claims that two viral videos show Indian Southwestern Army Commander Lt Gen Manjinder Singh and military spokesperson Colonel Sofia Qureshi criticising the recent Trishul exercises as political optics to boost the image for the Bihar elections are false.

The clips are doctored and have been dubbed over through AI-generated audio.

These fact checks were originally published by iVerify Pakistan — a project of CEJ-IBA and UNDP.