President Anura Kumara Dissanayake, who is currently on an official visit to the Federal Republic of Germany, was welcomed with a formal ceremony led by German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier on June 11 at Bellevue Palace in Berlin.

During the event, President Dissanayake was honored with military ceremonial honors and took part in reviewing the German armed forces parade.

A photo claimed to have been taken during this event began circulating on social media. In it, President Anura appears to be noticeably shorter than the German President, which drew FactSeeker’s attention.

Upon conducting a reverse image search, FactSeeker found a similar original photo published on the Batesville Guard website. The credited photographer of the original image is Bernd von Jutrczenka from the German Press Agency (DPA).

When comparing the two images, it became clearly evident that the photo circulating on Sri Lankan social media has been edited to make President Anura appear unusually short in comparison.

FactSeeker also reviewed other official photos released by the Sri Lankan Presidential Media Division from the welcome ceremony, which further confirmed that the image being widely shared has been manipulated.

The photo circulating on social media showing President Anura Kumara Dissanayake appearing shorter than the German President has been digitally altered and is confirmed to be fake by FactSeeker.