Fact Check: PM Modi and Chinese President Did Shake Hands At BRICS Summit In Russia; Misleading Post Viral

New Delhi (Vishvas News). Prime Minister Narendra Modi recently returned to India after attending the BRICS Summit in Kazan, Russia. Meanwhile, a viral post claimed that Chinese President Xi Jinping avoided shaking hands with PM Modi, accompanied by a video showing clips of Xi Jinping and Angela Merkel alongside PM Modi.

Vishvas News investigated the viral post and found it to be misleading. It is an incomplete video. At the BRICS Summit in Russia, PM Modi and Jinping met warmly and even shook hands. The video involving former German Chancellor Angela Merkel is seven years old.

What is going viral?

On October 14, 2024 Facebook user SK Kapoor (Archive Link) posted a video claiming, “Xi Jinping avoided shaking hands with Modi Ji – Breaking News. I can’t tolerate this much insult to Modi Ji. Bhakts, do something. At least start a media war.”

Investigation

Vishvas News investigated both the viral clips. First, we analysed the segment featuring Chinese President Xi Jinping. Several key frames from the clip were extracted and searched using Google Lens. We found pictures and videos of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping shaking hands in many news reports.

In a report available on ‘The Hindu’s’ YouTube channel, it is clearly shown that both leaders are standing before their respective national flags while shaking hands.

Similarly, a news report published by Dainik Jagran on October 24 2024 features a picture of PM Modi and the Chinese President shaking hands. The report highlighted the much-awaited meeting between PM Modi and Xi Jinping in Kazan, Russia.

In the second phase of our investigation, we investigated the clip featuring former German Chancellor Angela Merkel and PM Modi. On searching through Google Lens, we found the original video, uploaded on May 30, 2017, by ‘The Tribune’ which shows former German Chancellor Angela Merkel and PM Modi at a press conference, where both leaders are seen shaking hands in front of their respective national flags.

For further clarification, Vishvas News reached out to Jaiprakash Ranjan from Dainik Jagran’s National Bureau,  Who confirmed that PM Modi and the Chinese President met after five years, making it unlikely that they will not shake hands. He emphasised that they met warmly and even shook hands. Therefore, the viral post is misleading.

BJP’s social media team’s state co-convenor Shashi Kumar told Vishvas News that there are numerous pictures of Xi Jinping and PM Modi shaking hands, dispelling any truth in the viral post.

Concluding the investigation, we reviewed the profile of the user who shared the fake post. We found that this user named SK Kapoor resides in Mumbai, Maharashtra, and has 1900 Facebook friends.