Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s current go to to Lakshadweep has created a number of buzz on social media after he shared photos of the island. It additionally led to an argument surrounding Lakshadweep tourism, with many individuals evaluating it to the Maldives. The Maldives authorities suspended three deputy ministers after they made derogatory remarks about Prime Minister Narendra Modi on social media in connection together with his Lakshadweep go to. The controversy, which started on social media, has now snowballed right into a full-scale diplomatic row between the 2 nations.

In opposition to this backdrop, numerous politicians and ministers have urged individuals to journey to island locations inside India by sharing obvious pictures of locations comparable to Lakshadweep, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, and Port Blair.

Minister of earth sciences Kiren Rijiju has shared two photos and recognized them as from Lakshadweep. Nonetheless, he later deleted the tweet. (Archived hyperlink)

In a now deleted tweet, actor Ranveer Singh additionally shared an image and appealed to netizens to discover Indian seashore locations. (Archived hyperlink)

BJP MP Ravi Kishan additionally shared just a few pictures as locations to discover in India. (Archived hyperlink)

Indian cricketer Virender Sehwag additionally shared a set of pictures as Indian locations. (Archived hyperlink)

Proper wing influencer Arun Pudur additionally amplified just a few pictures because the Andaman & Nicobar Islands and Lakshadweep. (Archived hyperlink)

As well as, BJP chief Tajinder Bagga posted two pictures claiming they depicted the Chidiya Tapu Seashore at Port Blair. (Archived hyperlink)

Reality Test

First picture

Alt Information carried out a reverse picture search of the picture shared by Kiren Rijiju and Arun Pudur, presupposed to be from Lakshadweep. We found that this was a inventory photograph out there on the Alamy web site. The data related to the picture clearly states that it’s from Bora Bora Islands in French Polynesia. The identical consumer has additionally uploaded many different pictures of this location. One other consumer additionally uploaded a image of the identical location on the inventory picture web site Dreamstime, and the caption states that it’s a image of French Polynesia.

Second picture

Arun Pudur shared one other picture claiming it to be from Lakshadweep. Nonetheless, a reverse picture search on Google revealed that the photograph is on the market on the Shutterstock web site together with many different inventory web sites. Its precise location had been recorded as Tonsai Seashore in Thailand. We additionally appeared it up on Google Maps and located that many customers had posted the image of the placement containing the viral image in Google Evaluations.

Third picture

Once we carried out a reverse picture search of the photograph shared by Ranveer Singh on Google, we discovered it uploaded on the inventory web site Shutterstock. Within the data supplied with the image, it’s talked about that it was taken within the Maldives. We additionally verified this location on Google Maps and located that this image was certainly from the Maldives.

Fourth picture

This image was shared by Ravi Kishan, Kiren Rijiju and Arun Pudur. Utilizing a reverse picture search, we discovered it printed in {a magazine} named High Dreamer dated 2013. Right here it was described because the Maldives island. As we continued our investigation, we discovered this image in a put up dated March 21, 2012 on a Fb web page named Malediven. The identical web page had posted the same photograph taken from a distinct angle on the identical location on April 26, 2012. Screenshots of each the posts are given beneath.

We additionally discovered this image on picture internet hosting web site Flickr. Right here too, it has been described as an image of the Maldives. In accordance with the EXIF knowledge given on the web site, this photograph was taken on November 14, 2011.

Fifth picture

A reverse picture search of one of many photos shared by Virender Sehwag, led us to a different occasion of the identical photograph uploaded on a journey web page on Instagram. The placement of this image is talked about as Bora Bora, French Polynesia.

For extra data, we carried out a key phrase search utilizing phrases associated to Bora Bora on YouTube. We additionally got here throughout a video of the placement depicted within the photograph, from which it may be confirmed that this photograph is from Bora Bora, French Polynesia.

Sixth picture

This image was shared by Arun Pudur. A reverse picture search led us to a different iteration of it on inventory picture web site Adobe Inventory. The outline mentions that this image is from Phuket, Thailand. The consumer has uploaded extra photos of this location taken from completely different angles on the inventory picture web site.

Seventh picture

This image was additionally shared by Arun Pudur. After performing a reverse picture search on Google, we discovered it pinned on Pinterest. The pin contained a hyperlink to picture internet hosting web site Flickr the place it had been uploaded on July 19, 2011. The tags additionally point out Koh Phi Phi, Thailand. We additionally verified the placement of this place utilizing Google Maps and found that it was captured from the viewpoint of Koh Phi Phi in Thailand.

Eighth picture

BJP chief Tajinder Bagga had shared this photograph. We carried out a reverse picture search and located it uploaded on inventory picture web site Shutterstock. The outline states the photograph was captured in Koh Lipe Seashore in Thailand. The artist who uploaded this image has uploaded many different photos of the identical place from completely different angles.

Tenth picture

This picture was posted by Arun Pudur as properly, which Alt Information additionally discovered on inventory picture web site Alamy. In accordance with the knowledge offered, it was captured on Might 23, 2017, with a contributor named Denis Moskvinov importing it. We discovered Moskvinov’s Fb profile however it didn’t comprise any contact particulars, just some details about his spouse, Katya. We discovered a hyperlink to his spouse’s e-mail handle from her Instagram profile and reached out by way of e-mail to ask concerning the viral photograph. She knowledgeable us that this image was of a pal of theirs. It was uploaded by her husband Denis, who was a photographer and digital creator. She added that this picture was taken within the Indian Ocean close to Lembongan Island in Indonesia.

To sum it up, all these photos shared by well-known personalities together with politicians as being from India don’t, the truth is, depict Lakshadweep or any vacation spot in India.