Clip of security exercise falsely shared as Sri Lankan president's motorcade

"Hey, did you see the president's renaissance?" reads the Sinhala-language Facebook post on April 3, 2025 in an apparent reference to Dissanayake's campaign slogan (archived link).

It shares a clip of an officer closing off a road for a large convoy of vehicles.

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Screenshot of the false video taken on April 14, 2025

As part of an austerity drive, the Sri Lankan president ordered ex-leaders to move out of luxury government bungalows in January (archived link).

He also cut the number of security personnel assigned to them -- a move that authorities said saved millions of dollars of taxpayer money annually.

The clip was shared with similar claims elsewhere on Facebook, but the vehicles are actually part of an exercise held ahead of Modi's arrival in Sri Lanka on April 5.  

He travelled to the South Asian country after attending a summit in Thailand, becoming the first foreign dignitary to visit Colombo since Dissanayake became president (archived link).

A reverse image search found Sri Lankan outlet Hiru News published a video on April 6 showing Modi's actual motorcade, made up of vehicles similar to those in the false video (archived link).

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Two vehicles seen in the false video (left and centre), and the same vehicles in the Hiru News clip (right)

A livestream of the welcoming ceremony on Modi's YouTube channel also shows part of the convoy with the same vehicles (archived link). 

Prasanna Perera, head of the Sri Lankan President's Media Division, told AFP the video shows part of an exercise ahead of Modi's visit.

"This is the rehearsal of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's security fleet, which was conducted on April 2," Perera told AFP on April 3.

A statement issued by Sri Lanka's Police Media Division also confirms that the fleet of vehicles was part of a drill.