Fact Check: Afghanistan’s FM Mutaqqi announces Hindu temples? No, video is AI-manipulated

Hyderabad: Afghanistan's Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi arrived in India on October 9 for a six-day visit, marking the first visit by a senior Taliban official since the group took power in 2021. His visit aims to expand relations between Kabul and New Delhi.

Meanwhile, a video of Muttaqi purportedly announcing the building of Hindu deity temples in Afghanistan in exchange for dollars has been circulating on social media.

Muttaqi could be allegedly heard saying, “I have told Modi ji that if he gives us Taliban some dollars, then we will also build temples of Lord Shiva and Vishnu Devi in Kabul, Kandahar and Helmand so that devotees from India can undertake religious pilgrimages to Afghanistan. We have chanted ‘Jai Shri Ram’ here. We are grateful and indebted to Modi ji that Modi has given us a lot of love.”

Sharing the video, an X user claimed, “Breaking: Afghan Foreign Minister Mutaqqi announces that Afghanistan is now willing to open idol-worshipping temples inside Afghanistan in exchange for Indian money.” (Archive)

Fact Check

NewsMeter found that the claim is false, as the viral clip is manipulated using AI. Muttaqi has made no such announcement.

Discrepancies in the video

Since Muttaqi arrived in India, he has been holding press conferences and speaking to the media in Urdu. His accent, fluency and pronunciation in Urdu or Hindi are notably lacking. However, in the viral clip, he appears to speak fluent Urdu, which strongly suggests the video has been manipulated.

Source of the video

A reverse image search of the video’s keyframes led us to a 45-minute press conference by Muttaqi published by ANI on October 12.

During the press meet, Muttaqi discussed the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan’s foreign policy, emphasising a desire for balanced relations with all countries, including India and Pakistan. He addressed the recent conflict with Pakistan, asserting that Afghanistan has the right to defend its borders and has retaliated against violations, while ultimately expressing a preference for negotiation and peace.

Muttaqi also spoke about Afghanistan’s security situation, claiming the country is now safe for trade and investment and defended the government’s stance on women's rights, arguing they are protected under Islamic law. He further mentioned progress in diplomatic ties with India, noting that technical missions are being elevated to a diplomatic level.

However, nowhere in the press conference did he announce plans to build Hindu temples in Afghanistan in exchange for dollars.

We ran a keyword search and found no credible reports about Muttaqi announcing Hindu temples in Afghanistan.

What does the AI-detector report state?

We analysed the audio using Deepfake-o-Meter and found that four of its detectors flagged it as likely AI-generated, with confidence scores of 99.5 per cent, 99.9 per cent, 99.9 per cent and 100 per cent, respectively.

Therefore, we conclude based on our findings that the viral video of Afghanistan FM Amir Khan Muttaqi has been manipulated by adding AI-generated audio.