Video shows Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi arriving in the United States, not Ukraine

Published on September 5, 2024 at 11:01
3 min read
By Sachin BAGHEL, AFP India

Days after Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited Ukraine to call for a diplomatic solution to more than two years of war with Russia, a video of him greeting supporters at an airport in New York was shared in posts that falsely claimed it showed him arriving in Kyiv. Modi in fact travelled to the Ukrainian capital from Poland by train, as Ukraine's airspace has been closed since Russia invaded its neighbour in February 2022.

"Does the leader of any country in the world have so much power? There is a war going on between Ukraine and Russia and he can still go out in the open and accept the greetings of his supporters," read part of the Hindi-language caption to a video shared on X on August 25, 2024.

The video shows a convoy of vehicles coming to a stop between an aircraft and a line of people who are waving Indian flags. People who appear to be bodyguards step out of the vehicles before Modi emerges and interacts with the crowd.

Screenshot of the false post taken on August 30, 2024

The clip was shared after Modi visited war-torn Ukraine on August 23, saying he stood "firmly for peace" in talks with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky (archived link).

The visit -- the first by an Indian prime minister -- came just over a month after Modi angered Ukraine by hugging Russian President Vladimir Putin during a meeting in Moscow.

New Delhi has avoided explicit condemnation of Moscow's invasion in February 2022, and has cast itself as a possible peacemaker between the warring neighbours.

The same video was shared alongside similar claims it showed Modi arriving in Ukraine on X and Facebook.

The video, however, shows Modi greeting supporters during a visit to the United States in June 2023.

New York visit

A reverse image search on Google using keyframes from the false video led to the same clip posted on X on July 17, 2023 (archived link).

A subsequent search led to similar footage posted by the official YouTube channel of the Indian prime minister's office on June 20, 2023 (archived link).

The video, titled "Prime Minister Narendra Modi gets a warm welcome at the New York Airport", shows him wearing the same clothing as in the video shared in the false post.

Below is a screenshot comparison between the video used in the false posts (left) and the YouTube video (right):

Screenshot comparison between the video used in the false posts (left) and the YouTube video (right)

A similar photo showing Modi greeting people at the airport was also used in an article by the Indian financial news channel CNBC-TV18 (archived link).

"Indian-origin people chanted 'Modi-Modi' as Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrived at JFK airport in New York on Tuesday, June 20," the article said.

AFP reported that Modi celebrated the International Day of Yoga at the United Nations headquarters in New York before he headed to Washington for talks and a state dinner hosted by US President Joe Biden (archived link).

Before his visit to Kyiv in August 2024, Modi held talks in Poland -- a staunch ally of neighbouring Ukraine and a key transit point for leaders boarding trains to the capital (archived link).

Footage of Modi arriving in Kyiv embedded in an article by The Indian Express newspaper shows him emerging from a train compartment wearing an orange shawl (archived link).

Video uploaded on the prime minister's office's YouTube channel also shows Modi emerging from the train (archived link).

Screenshot from the Indian prime minister's office's YouTube video showing his arrival in Kyiv

The Indian Express article explains that foreign dignitaries have visited Kyiv by train since Ukraine’s airspace was closed following the Russian invasion in February 2022.

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