Prime Minister Modi has a special fascination for acronyms. From TOP = Tomato Onions Potatoes to HIRA = Highway, I-way, Roadway, Airway, PM Modi belts out an acronym for every occasion. So far so good. But as PM Modi got more adventurous with acronyms and experimented with longer words, he ran into an unexpected problem. The problem of remembering the spelling of the word.
A video is currently viral on social media of PM Modi’s recent visit to China. At a delegation level talk, PM Modi attempted the acronym of an eight-lettered word, ‘Strength’. It is now being claimed that he spelt “Strength” as….STREANH.
Narendra Modi, who holds a unique degree in entire political science, spells ‘Strength’ as ‘S T R E A N H’ in front of a Chinese delegation.
Posted by Beef Janata Party on Wednesday, 16 May 2018
To verify whether PM did make the faux pas, we looked up the original video on both ANI and Rajya Sabha TV. The footage of the faux pas that is being passed around on social media is genuine. The same clip can be seen in the ANI video below starting 16:16.
WATCH: PM Modi and President Xi Jinping hold delegation level talks in Wuhan https://t.co/i28g1LLExD
— ANI (@ANI) April 27, 2018
Later in the footage, PM tried to correct himself but he fumbled a second time and ended up making STRENGTH sound like STRENGATH. We can give him the benefit of doubt but what is the need for a Prime Minister to coin acronyms and spell words in a global forum?
The official handle of the Ministry of External Affairs tweeted the correct version i.e. the version that PM Modi meant to say but got confused with his spelling. “STRENGTH : S-Spirituality; T-Tradition,Trade & Technology; R-Relationship; E-Entertainment (Movies, Art, etc.); N-Nature conservation; G-Games; T-Tourism & H-Health&Healing.”
At the delegation-level talks, PM @narendramodi underscored importance of people-to-people contact through STRENGTH : S-Spirituality; T-Tradition,Trade & Technology; R-Relationship; E-Entertainment (Movies, Art, etc.); N-Nature conservation; G-Games; T-Tourism & H-Health&Healing. pic.twitter.com/2adA8UnDxu
— Raveesh Kumar (@MEAIndia) April 27, 2018
After this blooper, we hope PM Modi will think twice before coming up with a new acronym particularly when he is addressing an international audience.
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