Fabricated video of Macron criticising India spreads online
- Published on February 24, 2026 at 09:59
- 3 min read
- By Akshita KUMARI, AFP India
As Emmanuel Macron visited India in February 2026, a manipulated video depicting the French president criticising the Indian Air Force circulated online. A review of his original speech found he did not make the remarks shown in the video, the audio of which was likely fabricated using AI.
"Breaking News: Emannuel Macron spills the beans at India AI Summit," reads an X post shared on February 18, 2026, misspelling Macron's name.
It features a video of Macron apparently telling Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi that France "cannot become a complete defence partner with India".
"We have already lost a billion-dollar Rafale market because of inefficiency of Indian Air Force," the French leader is shown saying in English.
Macron kicked off a three-day visit to India on February 17 with a focus on technology and defence cooperation in Mumbai, before travelling to New Delhi to attend the AI Impact Summit (archived link).
The visit follows New Delhi's confirmation that it intends to place a major order for Dassault Rafale jets, as well as the signing of a landmark free trade agreement between India and the European Union.
Pakistan claimed its Chinese-supplied jets shot down six Indian aircraft -- including three Rafale fighters -- during four days of deadly fighting in 2025 between the South Asian foes (archived link). India has not disclosed any losses.
The video surfaced elsewhere on X, Facebook, and Instagram.
Some users appeared to believe the clip was genuine, with one commenting Macron "may have wished he could say this right in front of the man for the shameful way Rafale was dragged through the mud".
Faked audio
But a review of the original footage of Macron's statement shows the remarks shown in the video are fabricated.
A reverse image search on Google using keyframes from the falsely shared video led to footage showing the same scene streamed on the French presidential office's official YouTube channel on February 17 (archived link).
"Statement of President Emmanuel Macron and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi from Bombay," the video's title reads, using the old name of Mumbai.
It shows Macron speaking in French during the entire time.
The circulating video appears to be lifted from the 27:52 mark of the livestream.
The French presidential office published a transcript of Macron's speech, which also shows the president delivered his remarks in French and does not include those heard in the circulating video (archived link).
The Indian Prime Minister's office also livestreamed the leaders' remarks on its official YouTube channel on the same date, which dubbed the French president's remarks in Hindi (archived link).
India and France published an official joint statement on February 17, and neither copy contains criticism towards India's armed forces (archived here and here).
Indian agency ANI also published footage of the leaders' remarks on its YouTube channel, which features a different watermark seen in the false video (archived link).
An analysis of the circulating video's audio using the Hive Moderation tool indicates a 98.8 percent likelihood that the audio is AI-generated (archived link).
Moreover, the Verification Plugin -- also known as InVID-WeVerify -- shows some parts of the speech contain a very high chance that the audio was made using AI (archived link).
Fact-checking organisations The Quint and Factly have also fact-checked the claim (archived here and here).
AFP has debunked more AI-powered misinformation here.
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