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Fact check: Modi did not say he warned Netanyahu about Makkah pact; viral video is doctored

Multiple users, including Saudi-based accounts, have been sharing a video on social media platform X since August 15, 2026, showing Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi claiming he had warned Israeli premier Benjamin Netanyahu about the recently signed Makkah pact. However, the clip is doctored through AI. On August 7, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Turkiye signed the Makkah Joint Defence Agreement in the holy city, aimed at strengthening the collective security of the three countries. The agreement provides for an attack against one member state to be treated as an attack against all. How it started On August 15, an X user based in Saudi Arabia, who had a history of sharing AI-generated content, posted a video of Modi speaking during India’s 80th Independence Day celebrations. The caption read: “‘Breaking: Indian Prime Minister Modi says that he warned Netanyahu before the KSA-Turkey-Pakistan alliance. ‘I told Netanyahu that this alliance will be formed, bu...
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Fact check: Modi did not say he warned Netanyahu about Makkah pact; viral video is doctored

Multiple users, including Saudi-based accounts, have been sharing a video on social media platform X since August 15, 2026, showing Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi claiming he had warned Israeli premier Benjamin Netanyahu about the recently signed Makkah pact. However, the clip is doctored through AI. On August 7, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Turkiye signed the Makkah Joint Defence Agreement in the holy city, aimed at strengthening the collective security of the three countries. The agreement provides for an attack against one member state to be treated as an attack against all. How it started On August 15, an X user based in Saudi Arabia, who had a history of sharing AI-generated content, posted a video of Modi speaking during India’s 80th Independence Day celebrations. The caption read: “‘Breaking: Indian Prime Minister Modi says that he warned Netanyahu before the KSA-Turkey-Pakistan alliance. ‘I told Netanyahu that this alliance will be formed, but he did not believe me. Now this has become the biggest problem for Israel’.” The post gained 2,100 views. Even though several other users flagged the clip as being fake in the comments section, the video was shared by multiple accounts, creating the impression that the content was authentic. Among the users who shared the clip was an account that appears to be pro-military. The post was accompanied by the same caption and gained about 50,000 views. On Monday, another user based in Saudi Arabia shared the same video with the caption: “A conspiracy to destroy the Gulf states has been uncovered by Israel by implicating them with Iran, but it backfired on them, and now they are extremely worried. The destruction of the Gulf states is their goal; the new alliance has thrown them into disarray. Crown Prince Muhammad bin Salman has the shrewdness, cunning, and insight. The ally of the UAE warned and warned, but no one listened to him.” The post garnered 535,400 views. The video was subsequently shared by several other users on X, as can be seen here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here and here. Methodology A fact-check was initiated to determine the veracity of the claim due to its virality and keen public interest in the recently signed Makkah agreement. A keyword search was conducted to corroborate whether any credible Indian or international media outlet had reported such remarks by PM Modi. The results yielded a wide coverage of the Indian prime minister’s Independence Day speech by mainstream media outlets, including NDTV, Hindustan Times, The Times of India and India Today. However, none of the reports carried the remarks attributed to Modi in the viral video. A reverse image search using keyframes from the viral video led to the original footage of Modi’s speech. The video was shared by the Prime Minister’s Office’s official YouTube channel with the title, “PM Modi addresses the nation on the 80th Independence Day from the ramparts of the Red Fort.” A comparison of the viral clip with the original footage showed that the visuals were taken from the same Independence Day address starting at the 32:45-minute mark. However, a comparison of the two videos showed that the viral clip diverges from the original at the 32:58-minute mark, where an AI-generated segment was inserted. No corresponding remarks about Netanyahu or an alliance between Saudi Arabia, Turkiye and Pakistan appear in the original footage. In the original footage, Modi can be heard talking about India’s efforts to counter the weaponisation of technology and other essential commodities. A keyword search conducted for the full speech showed that the address was covered by Narendra Modi’s official YouTube channel, Bharatiya Janata Party’s official YouTube channel, and several mainstream Indian media outlets, such as ANI News, Times Now, CNBC, NDTV Profit and Republic World, all of which showed the same results. Fact-check status: False The claim that a viral video shows Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi claiming he had warned Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu about an alliance between Saudi Arabia, Türkiye and Pakistan is false. The video is doctored and dubbed over through AI. This fact check was originally published by iVerify Pakistan — a project of CEJ-IBA and UNDP.

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