Clipped video shared to claim ‘Indian Prime Minister Modi snubbed at G7 summit’

Context

The G7 Summit, an intergovernmental political forum consisting of the states of France, the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany, Japan, Italy, Canada, and the European Union as a “non-enumerated member,” was held between May 19 to May 21, 2023, in Hiroshima, Japan.  

India also participated in the summit, following which multiple videos and images of Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Japan circulated online. On May 21, 2023, Jawhar Sircar, a member of the opposition party All India Trinamool Congress, shared a video from the summit with the caption, "Looks like our PM is lonely and isolated at the G7 Summit in Hiroshima."  

The 12-second video shows Modi standing with other leaders on a podium, and watching as France President Emmanuel Macron interacts with U.S. President Joe Biden to his left. He is seen leaving the podium with other leaders, without interacting with anyone. Users shared this video widely, including Congress Member of Parliament Jairam Ramesh and lawyer and activist Prashant Bhushan, claiming that the other leaders sidelined the Indian prime minister. 

However, this video is clipped. A longer video and the original footage shows that other leaders greeted Modi at the G7 summit. 

In Fact

On going through the G7 summit's official website, we found that the viral video was taken on May 20, 2023, at Grand Prince Hotel in Hiroshima. The website does not have the video, but has two photos of Modi under the title, "Family Photo with G7 and Outreach (Grand Prince Hotel Hiroshima).” The photo shows Modi talking to French President Emmanuel Macron.  

We then looked for the said video. On May 20, Modi posted a longer video on his YouTube channel, and at 0:11 seconds, we can see Macron greeting Modi and walking with him toward the podium. German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, European Council (EC) President Charles Michel, and others follow them. At 2:39 minutes, after the photo session, while leaving the podium, Modi is seen speaking to Japan's Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, and both shake hands as well.  

The same could be seen in a livestream on The Independent’s YouTube channel.  

PM Modi also shared photos of his conversations with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, President of EU Commission Ursula von der Leyen, President of EU Council Charles Michel, UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, and many other leaders. During his three-day trip, Modi also met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.  

According to a report by NDTV, Biden praised Modi at the G7 Summit held in Hiroshima and said, "You are too popular, and I should take your autograph.” Biden was talking about how people requested him for tickets to see Modi in June 2023 during the latter’s visit to the U.S for the India-US summit. 

The Verdict

An edited version of a longer video of a photo session held in Hiroshima, Japan, during the G7 conference, was shared with a misleading narrative that Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi was ‘sidelined’ and ‘ignored’ by other world leaders.