Select images from different SCO summits are shared to compare Manmohan Singh & Narendra Modi - FACTLY
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
September 20, 2022
A collage of images is being shared on social media claiming it as the difference in priority or respect given to former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and PM Narendra Modi at international summits. Comparing a picture of Manmohan Singh standing in the middle of world leaders with another picture of PM Modi standing at the corner end of world leaders, this post refers to Manmohan Singh as a stronger Prime Minister when compared to Narendra Modi. Let’s verify the claim made in the post.
Claim: Difference in standing positions of former PM Manmohan Singh and Narendra Modi at the International summits which reflects their strength.
Fact: The two photos shared in the post are true and were shot during two different Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summits held in 2013 and 2022. During the recent SCO summit held in Uzbekistan’s Samarkand, Narendra Modi was seen standing in the centre position while posing for another group photo. Also, during many international summits, Manmohan Singh was seen standing at the corner or back while posing for a group photo along with world leaders. The post shared selective images to portray Narendra Modi as a weaker Prime Minister than Manmohan Singh. Hence, the claim made in the post is MISLEADING.
Photo 1:
On reverse image search of the photo, the same photo was found published on the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) website. The MEA and a few other news websites described it as a group picture taken during the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit held in September 2013, in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan. A group picture taken during the 2009 SCO summit can be seen here.
Though he was not seen standing near at the corner positions in SCO summits, in a few other major international summits, Manmohan Singh was also seen standing at the corner or near to the corner positions. A few of those pictures can be seen here, here and here.
Photo 2:
This photo shared in the post was taken during the recent SCO summit held in Uzbekistan’s Samarkand on 16 September 2022. The photo does show Narendra Modi standing in the left corner in a group photo. But in another picture taken during the same SCO summit in Samarkand, Narendra Modi was seen standing at the centre position along with Chinese President Xi Jinping. This picture was credited to Associated Press.
At many international summits, Narendra Modi was seen standing in the centre position in group photos of world leaders. They can be seen here, here and here. Selective images of Manmohan Singh and Narendra Modi are being shared in the post to portray Manmohan Singh as the stronger Prime Minister compared to Narendra Modi.
To sum it up, select images from different SCO summits are shared to portray Manmohan Singh as a stronger Prime Minister compared to Narendra Modi.