DNA Verified: Did Washington Post praise India’s Chandrayaan-3 mission? Truth behind viral screenshot

The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has caught the eye of the entire world with the success of its latest mission Chandrayaan-3, with India’s space program getting praises from international media due to the exceptional soft landing on the moon.

However, a recent screenshot going viral on social media claims that The Washington Post, which is known to be critical of India’s policies and decisions, has shared glaring praises for ISRO and India for the success of the Chandrayaan-3 mission.

The screenshot going viral on social media claims that the Washington Post had “surprisingly positive” things to say about the Chandrayaan-3 mission of India, calling the women behind the ISRO mission to the moon “inspiring”.

The users sharing the screenshot have claimed that the Washington Post is singing praises for India and ISRO in its new article, where it can be seen “lauding the depth of the talent in India”, saying that despite giving away "the first echelon" of talent to companies like Apple, Google, Microsoft, and Amazon it still has "enough left over to soft-land a space craft on the moon."

However, we have now uncovered the truth behind the viral screenshot and the real Washington Post article about India’s Chandrayaan-3 mission.

Fact Check: Did Washington Post praise Chandrayaan-3 mission?

After running a fact check on the viral screenshot, it was revealed that the article is not actually from The Washington Post, as claimed by several social media users. The text is actually a comment posted on the real article by the US-based publication.

The Washington Post uploaded an article titled ‘India’s lunar landing leaves a nation enthralled and briefly unified' published on 24 August, authored by Gerry Shih. A comment was left on this story by a user named ‘SandersRavilyn’, which is also visible at the top of the viral screenshot.

This reveals that the viral screenshot is actually the view of a reader of the Washington Post, and not the publication itself.

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