The post surfaced after Modi attended a BRICS summit of about 20 world leaders – including Chinese President Xi – in the central Russian city of Kazan (archived link).
The event was the largest diplomatic forum held in Russia since President Vladimir Putin ordered troops into Ukraine in 2022.
Modi then received German Chancellor Olaf Scholz in New Delhi a few days later. Germany and India are defense partners, but the two countries are at odds over ties with Russia and war with Ukraine (archived link).
The video collage was also shared by members of the opposition Congress Party on Facebook and X.
Comments on the messages showed that many users were misled.
“This is the first time anyone has insulted Modi in this way,” said one user.
“Respect is not sold in the marketplace, but you have to earn it through a lifetime of hard work,” wrote another.
However, the excerpts in the collage were misleadingly edited to omit portions of Modi shaking hands with Merkel and Xi.
Meeting between India and the EU
A keyword search on Google found a longer version of the clip featuring Modi and Merkel, published on the verified YouTube channel of Indian media outlet The Tribune on May 30, 2017 (archived link).
The headline of the report read: “Prime Minister Modi and Chancellor Angela Merkel at a press conference.”
Below is a screenshot comparison of the clip in the fake post (left) with The Tribune’s video (left):
The longer clip showed Modi extending his hand to Merkel. She responded by pointing to an area next to the stage where the national flags of India, Germany and the European Union were flying.
Both walked up to the flags and were seen shaking hands at the nine-second mark of the video, as seen below:
The video was also published by other Indian media here and here (archived links here and here).
According to the then newspaper The Hindu, Modi met Merkel in the German capital Berlin to discuss issues such as the impasse in the India-EU FTA (archived link).
A photo of Modi and Merkel shaking hands was also published Archives of AFP.
BRICS Summit
Further keyword searches on Google found a longer version of the second clip published on October 23, 2024 by Indian media outlet The Hindu (archived link).
“PM Modi meets Chinese President Xi Jinping,” part of the headline read. The report states that the recording was made during the BRICS summit in Russia, where Modi and Xi were both present.
Below is a screenshot comparison of the clip in the circulating video collage (left) and the one published by The Hindu (right):
Modi also appears to extend his hand to Xi, who points him to the flags of India and China. Both leaders shake hands in front of the flags at the seven-second point in the video, as seen below:
AFP also circulated a photo of Modi and Xi shaking hands during bilateral talks on the sidelines of the BRICS summit.
It was their first formal meeting in five years, signaling a possible thaw between the neighbors since deadly 2020 clashes between their forces on their disputed border.archived link).
