A photo has been claimed to portray Indian, Russian, Israeli, American and British intelligence agencies convening for the first time in Delhi. A Facebook user shared the image with this claim.
A few other users amplified the image and accompanying claim on Facebook.
It is widespread on Twitter and has made its way to WhatsApp as well.
Fact-check
Alt News performed a reverse image search and found the original photo in a Hindustan Times article dated September 8, 2021. The article says that a delegation-level meeting of national security advisers was held between India and Russia, as seen in the picture. India’s National Security Adviser Ajit Doval and his Russian counterpart Nikolai Patrushev held a meeting in New Delhi over the situation in Afghanistan following the Taliban’s occupation. In a statement, the Russian embassy said the duo discussed the military, political, and socio-economic situation in the war-ravaged country.
Amar Ujala also published an article on the meeting between India and Russia. In view of the developments in Afghanistan, the discussions centered around deepening bilateral cooperation in security matters and concerns over the threat of terrorism against India and Central Asia arising from the region. Republic TV also covered the event.
Apart from this, we could not find any media reports corroborating the claim about the intelligence agencies of five countries meeting in Delhi.
To sum it up, the National Security Advisors of India and Russia held talks in Delhi on September 8. A photo from this event was falsely circulated on social media as a meeting between intelligence agencies from five major countries in Delhi, and presented as proof of the ‘power of New India’.
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