A video is viral on social media with the claim that PM Narendra Modi refused to shake hands with American President Joe Biden at the recently held G7 Summit in Apulia, Italy.
The video shows a man dressed in a suit guiding PM Modi with an extension of his arm, upon which PM Modi walks away from the man towards a raised platform.
Verified X user @VickyAarya007 shared the viral video on June 15, claiming that Modi had refused to shake Biden’s hand at the Summit, which he perceived as Modi’s retaliation to America’s ‘interference’ in India’s elections. The post has garnered more than 96,000 views, and over 1000 retweets.
जो बाईडेन से हाथ न मिलाकर मोदी जी ने
अमेरिका को उसकी औकात दिखा दी
हमारे चुनावों में दखलअंदाजी का नतीज़ा
औकात दिखा देंगे दुनिया के सामने !! pic.twitter.com/tQ4kqR1XyK— अक्स (@VickyAarya007) June 15, 2024
Another verified X user, @Congress_Indira, shared the video with the same claim, and it has been viewed more than 20,000 times.
जो बाईडेन से हाथ न मिलाकर मोदी जी ने
अमेरिका को उसकी औकात दिखा दी
हमारे चुनावों में दखलअंदाजी का नतीज़ा
औकात दिखा देंगे दुनिया के सामने !!#GiorgiaMeloni #Melodi #G72024 #G7meeting #G7ITALY #Bhabhi #selfie #Modi #JoeBiden pic.twitter.com/U0i1T1i0n9— इंदु (@Congress_Indira) June 15, 2024
The short clip is also viral on Facebook with the same claim.
Fact Check
We ran a reverse image search on one of the key frames from the viral video, and came across this tweet from Siddhant Sibal, correspondent for WION, which contained a longer version of the same clip.
Watch: Italian PM Meloni welcomes Indian PM Modi at G7 Outreach summit with a “Namastey” pic.twitter.com/kUv0H5S5S8
— Sidhant Sibal (@sidhant) June 14, 2024
It is evident from the clip that the man in the suit is not Joe Biden, but an unknown man, possibly a member of the support staff, guiding PM Modi towards the raised platform, where he is welcomed by Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni with the ‘namaskar/namastey’ gesture, a traditional Indian way of conveying respect.
Moreover, a video showing Modi interacting with Joe Biden and shaking his hands at the G7 Summit has been uploaded by the Prime Minister’s own YouTube channel.
To sum up, the claim that PM Narendra Modi is seen in the viral video refusing to shake Joe Biden’s hands at the G7 Summit is false.
Prantik Ali is an an intern at Alt News.
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