Authors
A video of National Security Advisor Ajit Doval is being shared on social media in the context of the Taliban’s recent capture of Afghanistan.
A video posted on Facebook on 25th August 2021 reads, “The great spymaster of India. No wonder why we had to close our embassy in Kabul? This speech will surely haunt him for the rest of his life.” At last count, this post had been viewed by over seven thousand people.
In the 1 minute and 28-second long video shared by multiple users, Doval can be heard saying, “…It (Afghanistan) will hold together, it has been equipped, it has been trained. It has got officers who are sufficiently motivated. And it is felt that irrespective of what happens, at the political level in Afghanistan, the strong military and the police will remain a disciplined force upholding the constitution and democratic values of the Afghan state….”
The same video has also been widely shared on Twitter. A tweet posted by defence analyst Lieutenant General HS Panag (Retd) on 25th August was shared over 2,000 times and viewed three hundred thousand times.
Fact Check/Verification
A reverse image search of keyframes of the video revealed that the current National Security Advisor made this speech at a conference held by the US India Political Action Committee in 2013.
However, Doval was appointed National Security Advisor only in 2014. He had addressed the conference as a former director of the Indian Intelligence Bureau.
Robinder Sachdev, Co-founder and Director of Indian affairs at The US India Political Action Committee, confirmed to Newschecker that Doval gave the speech in 2013 at a conference on “Afghanistan and the region: Security, Stability and Prosperity” at Capitol Hill, Washington DC.
Sachdev told Newschecker that Doval’s comments were made at this conference “broadly in terms of US India relations and its further progress with respect to Afghanistan.” According to Sachdev, the conference was aimed at “bringing more awareness on Capitol Hill on the situation in Afghanistan whatever it was then because it has always been a matter of concern and also links to Pakistan.”
The original video is 22 minutes and 48 seconds long and is available on the Youtube channel of USINPAC – The US India Political Action Committee. The viral video is a snippet taken from the original video from 06:11 to 07:34.
Conclusion
The video of National Security Advisor Ajit Doval is not recent, and hence the context is misleading. The video is from a 2013 speech delivered at a conference of the US India political action committee.
Result: Misplaced Context
Our Source
USINPAC – The US India Political Action Committee:
Ajit Doval Chief security Advisor US INPAC – YouTube
Robinder Sachdev, Co-founder and Director of Indian affairs at The US India Political Action Committee
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