Fact Check: Viral video of 'International Fleet Review' passed off as Diwali celebrations by Indian Navy
Video of a fleet of illuminated ships displaying fireworks is being shared widely on social media. Users claim that this video is of recent Diwali celebrations by the Indian Navy. The caption of the 15 seconds video reads, "Indian Navy celebrating Diwali."
By Vamsi Krishna Pothuru Published on 23 Nov 2020 1:13 PM GMT
Hyderabad: Video of a fleet of illuminated ships displaying fireworks is being shared widely on social media. Users claim that this video is of recent Diwali celebrations by the Indian Navy. The caption of the 15 seconds video reads, "Indian Navy celebrating Diwali."
A similar claim is also shared on Facebook.
Fact check:
This video is related to the International Fleet Review (IFR) held in Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh in 2016. Any claims about the video as recent Diwali celebrations by the Indian Navy are FALSE.
A reverse image search of one of the keyframes of the video led to a YouTube video dated back to 18 May 2016 containing similar visuals of the viral video. The video was uploaded by a verified channel Wild Films India with the title "Lit up warships of the Indian Navy fire flares on the Bay of Bengal." Also, the description of the video reads, "Illuminated warships and fireworks on Eastern Naval Command during International Fleet Review organized by Indian Navy."
Taking a cue from the description of the video, Newsmeter did a keyword search using the terms 'international fleet review', 'Indian Navy' and found a photo-story published by The Quint on 3 Feb 2016. The article features similar visuals with the title "Spectacular Images from International Fleet Review 2016 Rehearsals." Several other articles by Economic Times, Times of India and others published in Feb 2016 had similar visuals of the viral video.
Keyword search also resulted in a full video of the International fleet review 2016 posted by the official youtube channel of PM Narendra Modi. The video titled "PM Modi at the International Fleet Review 2016 in Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh."
Newsmeter also found a video tweeted by ANI with similar visuals posted on 7 Feb 2016. The caption of the video reads "WATCH: Illuminated Naval ships at the Operational demonstration at International fleet review in Visakhapatnam (AP)."
It is evident from the news articles and official accounts that the viral video is related to the International Fleet Review (IFR) 2016 held in Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh. Therefore claims about the video as Diwali celebrations by the Indian Navy are FALSE.
