Altered Photo Viral As 'Surrender' Displayed Above Modi's Image In Maldives

An altered image of the Ministry of Defence building in Male, Maldives is being shared online with a false claim that it shows the country welcoming Prime Minister Narendra Modi with the word 'Surrender' written above his picture.

BOOM found that the photograph has been digitally altered to include the word 'surrender'.

Months after a diplomatic row, Modi visited the Maldives as the guest of honour for its Independence Day celebrations on July 25, 2025. He also inaugurated the Ministry of Defence building in Male with Maldives President Mohamed Muizzu. Muizzu said that the Indian PM's visit would help boost tourism and strengthen ties between the two countries. The photo is being shared in this backdrop.

The Claim

A verified handle on X shared the photograph with a Hindi caption that translates to, "Dude, who did this now? It's a picture of the Maldives Defense Ministry building.." (Original Text in Hindi: अबे यार अब ये किसने कर दिया? मालदीव रक्षा मंत्रालय के बिल्डिंग की तस्वीर है..)

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What We Found: Photograph Is Digitally Altered

1. Original Photo Does Not Show The Word ‘Surrender’: A reverse image search led us to the original photograph, posted by DD News on its official Instagram account on July 25, 2025. In the photo, there’s no word written above Modi’s image on the building.

DD News shared the photo with the caption, “This is how the Ministry of Defence building in Male, Maldives looks today.”

Similarly, visuals shared of the same building by the official handles of the Maldives National Defence Force and PMO India did not show the word surrender written on Modi’s photograph.

2. AI Detector Tools Indicate Manipulation: Upon noticing some inconsistencies, we tested a cropped version of the image using AI detection tools like Hive Moderation and Was It AI. Hive Moderation flagged the part of the image as likely to contain AI-generated or deepfake content. Was It AI also suggested that there’s a possibility the image, or parts of it, was created using AI.