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Fact Check
China welcomes Prime Minister Narendra Modi with a special drone light show during his official visit.
The claim is false. The image has been digitally altered.
A viral image circulating on social media claims that China welcomed Prime Minister Narendra Modi with a drone light show displaying his face during his ongoing official visit to the country. Newschecker found that the image has been digitally manipulated.
An archived version of the post can be viewed here. Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday (August 31) attended the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit in Tianjin, China. SCO is a regional political, economic and security group founded by China,
A reverse image search by Newschecker led to a Xinhua News Agency report published on April 20, 2025, which carried the same image but without Modi’s face. Instead, it showed only a dancing girl formed by drones. This strongly indicates that the viral image was digitally manipulated.
A comparison of the viral image (left) with the original photo (right) indicates that it was digitally altered.
The Xinhua report described a 15-minute drone light show held on April 19, 2025, in Nan’an District of Chongqing, southwest China. The performance featured city landmarks and was part of a scheduled light-and-drone display — unrelated to Modi’s visit to China, his first in seven years. Similarly, an iChongqing report from April 28, 2025, confirmed the launch of the “Glamorous Chongqing” drone light show. It noted that the display would run every Saturday and holidays, totaling about 90 days annually.
PM Modi arrived in Tianjin on August 30, 2025, to attend the SCO Summit. No Chinese or Indian official sources reported any drone show organised for his welcome.
When run through a Fake Image Detector tool, the viral picture was flagged as “computer-generated or modified.”
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The viral image claiming that China welcomed Prime Minister Narendra Modi with a drone light show is edited. The original photo was from an April 2025 drone event in Chongqing, long before Modi’s visit.
Q1. Did China organise a drone show for PM Modi in August 2025?
No. There are no credible reports or official announcements about such a show.
Q2. Where is the original drone show image from?
The image comes from Chongqing, China, where a scheduled drone show was held on April 19, 2025.
Q3. What did the edited image show?
The altered image added PM Modi’s face to the drone formations, which was not part of the original event.
Q4. How was the image verified as fake?
Reverse image search and a Fake Image Detector flagged the viral image as manipulated.
Q5. Why do such fake visuals spread online?
They spread because they mix real cultural events with political figures, making them appear more credible and shareable.
Sources
Xinhua News Agency report, April 20, 2025
iChongqing report, April 28, 2025
Fake Image Detector
Altered Photo/Video
Kushel Madhusoodan
September 24, 2025
Ishwarachandra B G
September 23, 2025
Vasudha Beri
September 23, 2025
