On 30 August 2025, Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrived in Tianjin, China, for his first visit in seven years to attend the 25th Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit. Welcomed by officials and the Indian diaspora, the visit focused on strengthening India-China relations, addressing border issues, and promoting regional cooperation amid global diplomatic shifts.
Amidst this, a couple of photos are circulating on social media claiming that he was welcomed with a drone show. Let’s verify the claims made in the posts in this article.
Claim: A drone show in China displayed PM Modi’s face along with messages such as “Modi Welcome To China” and “vote chor, gaddhi chod.”
Fact: The viral photos showing a drone show in China displaying PM Modi’s face with messages like “Modi Welcome To China” and “vote chor, gaddhi chod” are fake. The original photos are from a drone show held on 19 April 2025, in Nan’an District, Chongqing, showing a cultural performance unrelated to Modi. His face and the messages were digitally added. Further, no official reports indicate that a drone show was organised during his ongoing visit. Hence, the claim made in the post is FALSE.
The first photo (here, here, and here) claims to show drones forming PM Modi’s face in the sky along with the message: “Modi Welcome To China.” The second photo claims that during PM Modi’s visit to China, a drone show allegedly displayed his face in the sky with the message “vote chor, gaddhi chod” due to a small software error.
To verify the claim, we conducted a Google search for any drone shows organised in China for PM Modi, but found no media reports or official confirmation. As of the time of writing, there are no official drone light shows scheduled in China specifically to mark Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit.
A Google Lens search of the viral photos led us to a report by China’s state-run Xinhua News Agency dated 20 April 2025, featuring the same photo. However, it only showed a drone display of a dancing girl, with no depiction of PM Modi or the messages “Modi Welcome To China” or “Vote chor, gaddhi chod.” The photo was reportedly taken during a drone light show in Nan’an District of Chongqing Municipality on 19 April 2025, well before PM Modi’s visit on 30 August 2025.
According to a report by iChongqing, thousands of drones lit up the night sky above the city’s Two Rivers and Four Banks, officially launched on 19 April 2025. The photo shows the show, which is scheduled every Saturday and on holidays, combining drone choreography with building lights to create an immersive cultural experience. The event is described as the ‘Glamorous Chongqing’ drone light show.
A comparison of the viral photos shows that Modi’s face and the words “Modi Welcome To China” and “Vote chor, gaddhi chod” were digitally inserted into the original photo. Here is a comparison of the viral photos with the original, highlighting the digital modifications.
To sum up, viral photos showing a drone show in China with PM Modi’s face and messages like “Modi Welcome To China” and “vote chor, gaddhi chod” are fake.
