A video is circulating on social media (here, here, and here) in the context of the 16th BRICS summit, which took place in Russia from 22 October to 24 October 2024 that uses a template featuring four images. Two of these images show former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh at a summit with other world leaders. The other two images include a screengrab from the viral clip and a picture of current Prime Minister Modi, accompanied by the text, “Modi is missing.” This implies that Manmohan Singh was at international events and that Modi was not there. Let’s verify the claim made in the post.
Claim: PM Narendra Modi was missing at the 16th BRICS Summit.
Fact: A press release from the Ministry of External Affairs on 18 October 2024, announced that Prime Minister Narendra Modi will visit Russia on 22-23 October 2024, to attend the 16th BRICS Summit. The viral video highlights the heads of delegations at the summit, featuring India’s External Affairs Minister Jaishankar on 24 October 2024. There’s also evidence of Prime Minister Modi being there along with other ‘world leaders’ at the 16th BRICS Summit. Hence, the claim made in the post is MISLEADING.
A relevant keyword search led us to PM Modi sharing a photo with other ‘world leaders’ on his Facebook page, mentioning that he attended the 16th BRICS Summit in Kazan, Russia, with BRICS leaders. He noted that the Summit was special because new BRICS members were welcomed. We also came across media reports that shared a video featuring PM Modi with other ‘world leaders’ at the summit (here, here, and here).
Further, on performing a reverse image search using the keyframes of the viral video, we found the same video posted by The Times of India on its X handle on 24 October 2024 noting that “EAM Dr S Jaishankar with Heads of delegations at Kazan Expo International Exhibition Center in Russia, at the 16th BRICS Summit in BRICS plus format.” A similar video was also shared by Minister Jaishankar on his X platform. Here, it’s important to note that the caption mentioned ‘heads of delegation’ and not ‘world leaders’ as opposed to the video/photo that featured PM Modi.
On performing a relevant keyword search regarding the 2024 BRICS Summit, we found a press release from the Ministry of External Affairs on 18 October 2024, announcing that Prime Minister Narendra Modi will visit Russia on 22-23 October 2024, to attend the 16th BRICS Summit. Moreover, multiple media reports mention that PM Modi returned to India after taking part in the 16th BRICS Summit in Russia on 23 October 2024 and that Jaishankar represented India at the BRICS Plus meet following Modi’s return to India after the main sessions of the summit. (here, here, and here).
To sum up, a video showing the BRICS summit’s “Heads of Delegations” is being shared claiming that PM Modi did not attend the summit.
