Video shows India's Modi escorted to G7 podium, not refusing to shake hands with Biden

Published on June 26, 2024 at 09:44
3 min read
By Devesh MISHRA, AFP India

A man seen alongside Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the G7 summit in a video shared online is not US President Joe Biden, contrary to X posts that claimed Modi refused to shake hands with him. The unidentified man was seen escorting Biden and other world leaders at the event. Modi also posted photos of him greeting and hugging the US president.

"By not shaking hands with Joe Biden, Modi has shown America its place," read a Hindi-language post on X, formerly Twitter, that shared the video on June 15.

"This is the result of interfering in our elections, we will show you your place in front of the world."

India's Ministry of External Affairs accused the US Commission on International Religious Freedom of trying to interfere in India's elections, which concluded in June (archived link).

The allegation came after the US federal government agency recommended designating India as a "country of particular concern" (archived link).

Modi was forced into a coalition government after a shock setback in the polls left his Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) without an outright majority for the first time in a decade.

The clip shows a man walking alongside Modi extend his hand towards the Indian leader, who does not return the gesture.

Screenshot of an X post sharing the false claim

The leaders of the G7 -- which brings together the United States, Japan, France, Germany, Canada, Britain and Italy -- met in Italy between June 13 and 15, with souring trade relations with China as well as tensions over Ukraine and the South China Sea a focus of their discussions.

Modi was one of around a dozen non-G7 guests also attending who did not, however, participate in working sessions.

The video racked up thousands of views in similar X posts here and here that falsely claimed it showed Modi snubbing Biden.

Mistaken identity

A longer version of the video livestreamed on the G7's YouTube channel on June 14 appeared to show the man was in fact escorting Modi to a podium -- not reaching out for a handshake (archived link).

The man made the same gesture to other world leaders, including British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, to direct them to the podium where Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni was waiting to greet them.

He also escorted US President Joe Biden as he arrived at the event.

Screenshots of the man greeting various world leaders, including Biden, at the summit

Meanwhile, the Indian prime minister shared various photos of him greeting and hugging the US president at the summit.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's X post sharing photos of him with Biden at the G7 summit

AFP has fact-checked more misinformation targeting Joe Biden here.

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