Old video of Indian PM Modi meeting the Pope falsely linked to recent G7 Summit in Italy

What’s the claim?

Days after the G7 Summit in Italy, a video surfaced on social media claiming to depict Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi meeting with Pope Francis, the head of the Vatican City State. The video was accompanied by claims suggesting it captured a recent sideline meeting during the summit. Some posts even claimed that Modi was the sole leader invited by the Pope during the event, a fact that national media purportedly ignored.

A user on X (formerly Twitter) shared the clip with the caption, “The media doesn't show this outreach. Only Modi Ji was invited by the Pope out of all state heads attending G7 meeting in Italy. This is the power of India today. No credit is given to Modi Ji by Indian Seculars (sic).” At the time of writing, the post had garnered over 37,000 views. An archived version of a similar post on X is available here.

The video quickly spread on platforms like WhatsApp and Facebook, each echoing similar claims. Archived Facebook posts can be viewed here and here.

Screenshot of the viral claims made online. (Source: X/Facebook/Modified by Logically Facts)

What we found about the video

Using various keyframes from the viral clip, we conducted a reverse image search and traced the original video to Modi’s official YouTube channel (archived here), where it was uploaded on October 30, 2021. The video was titled “PM Modi meets Pope Francis in Vatican City."

Further investigation revealed multiple mainstream news reports from October 2021 featuring visuals identical to those in the viral clip. According to an Associated Press report dated October 30, 2021, Modi visited the Vatican City and met with Pope Francis. This encounter, which occurred prior to the G20 Summit in Rome, marked their first meeting. During the visit, Modi extended an invitation to Pope Francis to visit India and presented him with a silver candelabra and a book.

In addition, Modi shared several photos from the October 2021 meeting with Pope Francis on his official X account (archived here), captioning them: “Had a very warm meeting with Pope Francis. I had the opportunity to discuss a wide range of issues with him and also invited him to visit India.”

It is crucial to clarify that while Modi did meet with Pope Francis during the 2024 G7 summit in Italy, along with other world leaders, the viral video circulating on social media is actually footage from their earlier meeting in October 2021. This older video has been misleadingly presented as recent footage depicting Modi’s purportedly 'special' meeting with the Pope.

The verdict

The video depicting Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi meeting with Pope Francis is from October 2021 and has been inaccurately portrayed as an exclusive interaction during the recent G7 summit in Italy.