After Leader of the Opposition Rahul Gandhi and Congress leader Sandeep Dikshit took a jibe at Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s customary hugs with foreign leaders and his public camaraderie with Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni on Thursday, August 13, a statement purportedly issued by the Italian Embassy in New Delhi began circulating on social media.
Speaking at the Rachnatmak Congress national convention, Gandhi gave Dikshit a big hug. Dikshit quipped, “You weren’t hugging me thinking I was Meloni?” Gandhi replied, “I haven’t reached that stage yet,” drawing laughter from the gathering. The exchange triggered outrage among Bharatiya Janata Party leaders and its supporters.
The purported statement was posted on X by an account named ‘Italy in India’ (@AINga5f). It claimed that the embassy had expressed “deep concern and strong disapproval” over the “derogatory remarks” attributed to Gandhi.
“We respect India’s democratic institutions and political discourse, and we expect the same respect for Italy and its democratically elected leadership,” the purported statement read.
Media outlets Republic and Gujarat Samachar published reports based on the purported letter.
Several other influential and verified X handles, including Right-wing influencer Ajeet Bharti, K S Radhakrishnan, International Business Times, CNN News 18 journalist Vaibhav Singh, Saravanaprasad Balasubramanian (Modi ka Pariwar) and Damodar Singh amplified the purported letter on X.
The purported statement is also viral on Facebook and Instagram.
Fact Check
It is pertinent to note that the X handle that released the letter, @AINga5f, is a troll account and not the official handle of the Italian Embassy in India. The account has since been taken down from X.
The bio of the handle clearly stated that it was a satire account. Here is an archive.
The real handle of the Italian embassy in India is called @ItalyinIndia which also has a grey verification badge which is given to government or multilateral organization accounts.
We checked the website of the embassy and found no such statement. We also discovered that the last update on their website was on July 24, about a ministry of foreign affairs and international cooperation (MAECI) scholarship.
Thus, it can be conclusively stated that the letter circulating online is fake and was not released by the official handle of the Italian Embassy in India. The letter was first shared by a troll account that has since been taken down.
