Claim: Prime Minister Harini Amarasuriya dressed casually in a kurta and pants to the BIMSTEC Summit proceedings held in Thailand on April 4, 2025.
Fact: The Prime Minister was seen wearing a kurta and pants at the Swarnabhumi airport in Thailand. She later wore a sari to the BIMSTEC summit proceedings.
Last week, Prime Minister Harini Amarasuriya attended several international events representing Sri Lanka, including the Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) Summit which took place in Thailand on April 4. Parallel to her attendance at the summit, various social media posts shared images of her in a blue kurta and pants, claiming that she was dressed casually and wore ‘unsuitable’ attire to the summit.
Sharing the image, one such social media post said in Sinhala, “Prime Minister Harini goes to the BIMSTEC Summit in problematic clothing!”
Many posts making similar claims were also found on X, here and here.
Due to the amount of criticism over Dr Amarasuriya’s outfit, Newschecker decided to look into the veracity of the claim.
Fact Check/Verification
The Newschecker team ran a search for relevant keywords “Harini Amarasuriya”, “Prime Minister”, and “BIMSTEC” to check whether Amarasuriya had indeed worn the blue kurta and pants to the summit proceedings.
We noticed that she had worn the outfit during her air travel to Thailand. On April 3, 2025 Arun Hemachandra, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Employment at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs – Sri Lanka, shared these photos on his Facebook account, with the caption “Hon. Harini Amarasuriya, Prime Minister of Sri Lanka, arrives in Thailand.”
Dr Amarasuriya can be seen walking along the exit ramp of the aeroplane and the airport corridors wearing the said clothes after being welcomed by Thai officials.
We then checked official sources of information regarding Amarasuriya’s attendance at the BIMSTEC Summit itself. The BIMSTEC website posted a press note regarding the event, along with a photograph of all officials who were present at the event, where she can be seen wearing a red sari and not the kurta pictured above.
We found images posted by Dr Amarasuriya on her official social media page, where she can be seen performing her official duties at the BIMSTEC summit.
We also contacted a representative from Amarasuriya’s office who confirmed that Dr Amarasuriya wore a saree to the BIMSTEC event as seen on the official photograph, and wore the blue kurta and pants while traveling.
Conclusion
Hence, we find that the claim is false. The Prime Minister was photographed wearing a kurta and pants at the Swarnabhumi airport in Thailand. She wore a sari to the BIMSTEC summit proceedings.
Result: False
Our Sources
‘Thailand hosts the 6th BIMSTEC Summit in Bangkok on 04 April 2025’, published on the official BIMSTEC website, April 5, 2025
‘Prime Minister Attends Sixth BIMSTEC Summit’, published on Daily News, April 4, 2025
Post by Arun Hemachandra, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Employment at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs – Sri Lanka, on his official Facebook profile, April 3, 2025
Post by Prime Minister Harini Amarasuriya on her official Facebook profile, April 5, 2025
Representative of the Prime Minister’s office
If you would like us to fact-check a claim, give feedback or lodge a complaint, email us at [email protected]. You can also visit the Contact Us page and fill out the form.
