Screen grab: youtube/CGTN Europe
PIB, the government’s fact-checking agency, has dismissed viral claims regarding China’s “large-scale military build-up near Arunachal Pradesh”. “The video has no relation to any exercise on the Indian border,” it said in a post on X. The claims had triggered concerns about renewed tensions along the Line of Actual Control.“Several social media accounts have shared a video claiming that China has started a massive military build-up near Arunachal Pradesh. This claim is fake,” it added. According to PIB, the footage actually shows a routine military exercise conducted by a brigade of the People’s Liberation Army’s 78th Group Army. The unit operates under China’s Northern Theatre Command, headquartered in Harbin in Heilongjiang Province.“The video shared shows a military exercise conducted by a brigade of the PLA’s 78th Group Army… The video has no relation to any exercise on the Indian border,” the fact-check unit said.PIB noted that the exercise took place around a month ago and does not indicate any troop mobilisation near Arunachal Pradesh or elsewhere along the border.The video was first uploaded on YouTube and later recirculated across social media platforms with misleading captions. PIB also shared a link to the original upload to clarify the context of the footage.In the X post, PIB also urged the citizens to verify information from official sources before sharing content, saying “Please stay alert and rely only on information obtained from official sources.”
