The post surfaced after Modi attended a BRICS summit of around 20 world leaders — including China’s 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 hosted German Chancellor Olaf Scholz in New Delhi just days later. Germany and India are defence partners but the two countries diverge over ties with Russia and its 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 posts indicated many users were misled.
“This is the first time someone has insulted Modi in this way,” one user commented.
“Respect is not sold in the market but one has to earn it through lifetime hard work,” wrote another.
The clips in the collage, however, had been misleadingly edited to omit portions that showed Modi shaking hands with Merkel and Xi.
India-EU meeting
A keyword search on Google found a longer version of the clip showing Modi and Merkel published on the verified YouTube channel of Indian media outlet The Tribune on May 30, 2017 (archived link).
The headline to the report read: “PM Modi and Chancellor Angela Merkel during a press conference.”
Below is a screenshot comparison of the clip in the false post (left) with the video from The Tribune (left):
In the longer clip, Modi could be seen extending his hand to Merkel. She responded by pointing at an area next to the podium where the national flags of India, Germany and the European Union were displayed.
Both walked over to the flags and could be seen shaking hands at the video’s nine-second mark as seen below:
The video was also published by other Indian media outlets here and here (archived links here and here).
According to The Hindu newspaper at the time, Modi met with Merkel in the German capital Berlin to discuss issues such as the impasse in the India-EU free trade agreement (archived link).
A picture of Modi and Merkel shaking hands was also published on AFP’s archives.
BRICS summit
A further keyword search on Google found a longer version of the second clip published by Indian media outlet The Hindu on October 23, 2024 (archived link).
“PM Modi meets Chinese President Xi Jinping,” read part of the headline. The report said it was taken during the BRICS summit in Russia that Modi and Xi both attended.
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 towards the flags of India and China. Both leaders are shown shaking hands in front of the flags at the video’s seven-second mark as seen below:
AFP also distributed a picture 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, signalling a potential thaw between the neighbours since deadly clashes between their troops in 2020 on their contested border (archived link).
