Video of Sonia Gandhi and former PM Manmohan Singh with the former Sri Lankan Prime Minister & current President Ranil Wickremesinghe is being shared widely on social media (here, here, and here) claiming that Sonia Gandhi was seated in a prominent seat even though Manmohan Singh was the Prime Minister of India. Let’s verify the claim made in the post.
Claim: When Manmohan Singh was the Prime Minister of India, Sonia Gandhi was seated in a prominent seat during a meeting with the former Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe.
Fact: The viral video was taken in 2017 when the then Sri Lankan Prime Minister, Ranil Wickremesinghe, visited India. However, Manmohan Singh served as the Prime Minister of India from 2004 to 2014. In this meeting, Sonia Gandhi, as the President of the Congress party, took the prominent seat. Hence, the claim made in the post is FALSE.
A reverse image search of key frames from the viral video led us to a video with similar visuals, published on YouTube by ‘NNIS-News’ on 26 April 2017. The video description states, ‘On his four-day visit to India, Sri Lanka Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe met opposition party leader Sonia Gandhi and former Indian PM Dr. Manmohan Singh.’ Photos of the event, featuring Sonia Gandhi and former PM Manmohan Singh with Ranil Wickremesinghe, were also shared by ANI on its Twitter handle in 2017.
In discussions with representatives of the Sri Lankan government, Sonia Gandhi was seen sitting in the prominent seat as the president of the Congress party. Similarly, in 2019, Sonia Gandhi sat in the prominent seat on behalf of the Congress party during discussions with Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.
Manmohan Singh was the 13th Prime Minister of India and he served during the period 2004 – 2014. Meetings attended by Manmohan Singh as Prime Minister during the Congress government with representatives of foreign governments can be viewed here and here. In these discussions, Manmohan Singh is seen sitting in a prominent seat, conversing with foreign dignitaries. From these details, it is evident that the video shared in the post was not taken during the Congress government when Manmohan Singh was the PM.
Factly had debunked (here, here, and here) similar claims earlier when they were shared on social media.
To sum up, this video of Sonia Gandhi seated in a prominent seat during a meeting with the former Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe in 2017 was not taken when Manmohan Singh was Prime Minister.
