Following US President Donald Trump’s announcement of a suspension in attacks on Iran for two weeks, several pro-Pakistan accounts shared a video of Congress MP Shashi Tharoor saying that Pakistan stepping in to end the Iranian war was a “massive strategic failure by the Indian government”. In his April 7 post, Trump had mentioned talks with Pakistan’s leadership as one of the factors leading to his decision.
Shashi Tharoor throws Modi۔۔
Very well said by Shashi Tharoor that Pakistan emerged as global net security provider while Indians are busy in Bollywood fantasies like Dhurandar 2.@all pic.twitter.com/oNuY5PEYkp
— A.K Mohsin (@ak_mohsin) April 9, 2026
In the viral video, Tharoor is seen appearing on journalist Rajdeep Sardesai’s show on India Today. While referring to Trump’s post on Truth Social, he apparently states, “I have never criticised the Prime Minister Modi or the BJP before, but today silence is just blind loyalty. The harsh reality is that Pakistan is taking centre stage, rebranding itself as a global stability provider, meanwhile India is bleeding diplomatic capital and rapidly losing its influence on the world stage. And what is our country focused on? The entire nation is distracted, cheering for movies like Dhruandhar 2. We are celebrating cinematic fantasies while losing in the real world. I am speaking up today because we can no longer afford to be distracted while the global order shifts again…”
User @InsiderWB shared the video on X saying, “Shashi Tharoor rips apart Modi Government “. The post garnered over 1,66,000 views. (Archive)
Pakistani journalist Kamran Khan also shared the purported video of Tharoor, dubbing it The Great Indian Debacle. (Archive)
The Great Indian Debacle: Pakistan Wins Global Respect pic.twitter.com/sf4t603taa
— Kamran Khan (@AajKamranKhan) April 8, 2026
Several other users also shared the same video with the same claim. (Archives 1, 2, 3, 4)
Fact Check
Alt News dug out the original video which was posted on India Today’s official YouTube channel and found that Tharoor did not make any of the purported statements. We also found the exact segment that had been morphed into the viral video. In the original video, Tharoor was asked about India’s ties with Bangladesh.
Above, we have compared the original segment with the viral video. Rajdeep Sardesai’s hand movements are the same in both the clips, while Tharoor is heard saying entirely different things.
Moreover, we also noticed anomalies in Tharoor’s lip movements.
The Thiruvananthapuram MP also released a statement addressing the circulation of these clips. “There are an alarming number of deepfake videos circulating of me, with convincing-sounding AI generated voice-overs over genuine footage of old interviews, having “me” saying things I have never said…” read his tweet. Additionally, he said that if a certain statement doesn’t appear on his timeline or on that of the purported interviewer/media source, it should be considered “fake news”.
To sum up, the video of Tharoor “ripping the Modi government apart” is AI-generated. We compared the original interview with the viral video and found that Tharoor had said no such thing.
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