A Drone Show In China Welcoming Narendra Modi? Here’s The Truth.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi participated in the 25th Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Summit in Tianjin, China on 1 September 2025. He reached Tianjin on 30 August 2025 and this is his first visit to China in 7 years. Against this backdrop, a video and photo of a drone show forming a dancer and PM Modi’s face along with the text “MODI WELCOME TO CHINA” went viral on social media. Sharing this on social media, users claimed that China organised a drone show welcoming Modi.

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However, as we investigated, we learned that the photo and video had been edited. Here’s the fact check.

Fact Check 

We started our investigation by conducting a reverse image search. This led us to the Facebook page of China’s state-controlled media “People’s Daily, China” where a photo similar to the viral photo was uploaded on 21 April 2025. But the photo doesn’t contain PM Modi’s face and the text as the viral one. 

The post’s caption reads, “A 15-minute drone light show featuring iconic landmarks of Chongqing made its dazzling debut on Saturday in the hilly city of southwest China, lighting up the night sky with a visual feast alongside the city’s vibrant lighting display.”

A report published in People’s Daily Online on 11 August 2025 reads, “…Since mid-April of this year, Chongqing has been hosting an exciting drone light show every Saturday night in its downtown area, where the Yangtze and Jialing rivers converge. This grand spectacle has quickly become a new hallmark of Chongqing, injecting fresh vitality into the city’s tourism industry…”

According to another report, the viral video of the drone show is from 19 April 2025.

We found the full video on a YouTube channel uploaded on 20 April 2025.

A comparison between the viral photo and the original photo can be seen below.

This makes it clear that the viral video/photo is old and unrelated to Modi’s recent visit to China.

Conclusion 

From our investigation, we can say that the viral video/photo has been altered. The video/photo is from a drone show in Nan’an District of southwest China’s Chongqing Municipality on 19 April 2025. The original video/photo shows the dancer only; PM Modi’s face and the text are edited in the viral video/photo.