Narendra Modi did not announce Sheikh Hasina as the legitimate Prime Minister

3 August, 2025 4:18 pm

Recently on social media, a photo has been circulated claiming: “Breaking News: This time Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi ji has announced the name of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina as the legitimate Prime Minister. Today at Hyderabad House in Delhi, during a meeting, he stated this.” It further claims: “With this, four countries have announced Sheikh Hasina as the legitimate Prime Minister.”

See the claim promoted on Facebook here (archive), here (archive), and here (archive).

See a similar post on Instagram here (archive).

Fact Check

The Rumor Scanner team’s investigation revealed that Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has not recently announced Sheikh Hasina as the legitimate Prime Minister. In fact, a photo from a different event has been used—without any credible evidence—to spread this claim. No country has announced Sheikh Hasina as the legitimate Prime Minister.

Upon reviewing the circulated posts, no reliable evidence was found to support the claim. Even after conducting relevant keyword searches, no confirmation from mainstream media or trustworthy sources was found to support it.

A reverse image search led to a report published on April 9 by UAE-based media outlet Al Bayan, which includes several images—one of which matches the viral photo. The caption of the image reads: “Narendra Modi shakes hands with Reem Al Hashimy and Mohammed Al Hussaini.”

According to the report, “The Crown Prince of Dubai, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defense of the UAE, His Highness Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, met with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi on April 8. … The meeting focused on the strategic partnership between the two countries and its exemplary progress. Both parties committed to strengthening this partnership based on mutual goodwill and vision. This partnership is built on the historical ties between the UAE and India and their peoples’ friendship, which supports achieving common goals across sectors.”

The official Instagram account of the Consulate General of the UAE in Mumbai also includes the same image posted on April 8.

Further details about the meeting are reported by Indian media outlets like Times of India and The Indian Express, which mention that PM Modi discussed strengthening India–UAE strategic ties—particularly in areas like trade, investment, defense, energy, technology, education, sports, and people-to-people relations.

Additionally, a report on the Government of Dubai Media Office website stated that the meeting focused on strengthening the UAE–India strategic partnership. Topics discussed included investment, trade, tourism, industry, infrastructure, logistics, energy, food security, advanced technology, artificial intelligence, digital transformation, and space.

Nowhere was Sheikh Hasina announced as the legitimate Prime Minister.

In contrast, after Dr. Yunus took office as Chief Advisor of the interim government, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi extended greetings to him on August 8 last year. Modi and Dr. Yunus were also seen exchanging greetings during Eid-ul-Adha and on multiple other occasions. Most recently, following the tragic plane crash in Uttara on July 21, Modi expressed condolences via a post on X, reaffirming India’s support for Bangladesh.

It’s worth noting that a previous false claim alleging that the President of Peru had declared Sheikh Hasina the legitimate Prime Minister was debunked by Rumor Scanner in a fact-check report.