Deepfaking the Prime Minister: The AI-Powered Political Disinformation

A doctored G7 Summit video and an altered speech on the Israel-Iran conflict are the latest examples of deepfakes targeting Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The incidents highlight how AI-generated content is becoming a powerful tool for creating convincing political misinformation. 

From June 15 to 17, 2026, the  G7 Summit took place in Évian-les-Bains, France. During the summit, US President Donald Trump and Prime Minister Narendra Modi had a bilateral meeting. A video allegedly from that bilateral meeting was shared online, appearing to show Donald Trump accusing Narendra Modi of responsibility for the 2002 Gujarat riots. However, we examined the video and found that it is a deepfake.

What’s viral and how?

The Gujarat riots began on February 28, 2002, sparked by the burning of a train in Godhra, which resulted in the deaths of 58 Hindu pilgrims and kar sevaks. The subsequent violence mainly affected the Muslim minority in the state and led to more than 1,000 fatalities.

The Instagram account ‘politicia2.0’ shared a video on June 18 that shows US President Donald Trump and PM Narendra Modi at the bilateral meeting during the 2026 G7 summit. The video appears to show Donald Trump accusing Narendra Modi of ‘killing millions’ during the 2002 Gujarat riots. During the meeting, Trump allegedly says of  Narendra Modi, “He is like an angel. But actually, he is as tough as a killer. He is a killer. He killed millions in Gujarat back in 2002, for which he was banned in the US. You know he couldn’t enter the US.”

Trump appears frozen for several seconds in the video, raising questions about its authenticity. We noticed that on June 17, the bilateral meeting was live-streamed on the White House’s official YouTube channel. Our analysis of the original footage confirmed that Trump did not comment on the Gujarat riots or accuse PM Narendra Modi in any manner.

In the original footage, Trump says, “ He’s the most beautiful looking man. He looks so nice. He’s like an angel, but actually he’s as tough as he’s a killer. He’s as tough as they come. But he looks so good. So, he gets you by surprise. But there are few people like this. People say he’s such a nice man. I said no, he’s very tough. He’s a tough negotiator and trader, and he loves the Indian people, but he also loves the USA.”

Furthermore, we subjected the audio to deepfake voice detection using Hiya Deepfake Voice Detector, and the results revealed that it is likely a deepfake.

Not the first time

This was not the first time that PM Narendra Modi was targeted using deepfakes or digitally altered visuals. On March 13, when tensions involving Iran, Israel, and the United States were at their peak, a video went viral across social media. The video features Prime Minister Narendra Modi speaking at an event.

In the video, the PM allegedly states that the only reason India is supporting Israel in the conflict is that Israel wants to become Greater Israel and India wants to become ‘Akhand Bharat’, an irredentist concept that suggests that modern-day countries including Afghanistan, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal, Bhutan, Sri Lanka, Tibet, and Myanmar are historically and culturally part of a unified Greater India.

As of June 27, the post had garnered 2,500 likes and 673 comments.

Believing the video to be true, a user commented, “India is a superpower country, but the communal politics is holding it back.” Another user stated, “Iran has always supported India for many years; he is talking nonsense.” Several other users criticised Narendra Modi for allegedly supporting Israel.

Noticeable lip-sync inconsistencies suggested that the video may have been altered. A reverse image search on the keyframes of the viral video led to an ANI video shared on March 12.

The viral video turns out to be a zoomed-in version of the original video. However, in the original video, PM Modi did not make any statements about Iran, Israel, or ‘Akhand Bharat’ as seen in the viral version. The original footage shows PM Modi addressing the NXT Summit in New Delhi, where he spoke about the global energy crisis triggered by ongoing conflicts and outlined the expansion of LPG and PNG infrastructure across India. A review of the full speech found no reference to the statement heard in the viral clip.

Additionally, we found an official press release about PM Modi’s address at the NXT summit. Nowhere in it was the word ‘Akhand Bharat’ mentioned. This confirms that a digitally altered video was shared online.

The analysis highlights a growing trend in which AI-generated or digitally altered content is used to place fabricated statements in the mouths of public figures, particularly during high-profile international events.