Italian premier did not refuse to shake hands with PM Modi

Hyderabad: A photo showing Prime Minister Narendra Modi trying to shake hands with his Italian counterpart Giorgio Meloni has gone viral on social media.

Social Media users are sharing the photo with a claim that the Italian PM refused to shake hands with Modi.

A Facebook user shared the photo and wrote, “Italy's Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni refuses to shake hands with Narendra Modi. It seems she's giving back "sanskaar" to a "sanskaari".

Several other Twitter and Facebook users have also shared the photo claiming the same. (Click here and here to see the post.)

Users are sharing pictures of Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni's recent visit to India.

Fact Check

NewsMeter found that the claim is misleading.

On the PMO’s official YouTube channel, we found the video of the ceremonial reception of the Italian PM Meloni at the Rashtrapati Bhawan. The video starts with Mr. Modi welcoming his Italian counterpart with a warm handshake.

After the ceremonial reception, at around 5.21 minutes, the video shows PM Modi and his cabinet ministers again welcoming PM Meloni with a handshake.

At the 7.58-minute mark, just before Meloni was about to leave in the car, the video shows the viral frame of PM Modi offering his hand for a handshake and his counterpart standing with folded hands. However, at the 7.59-minute mark, both can be seen shaking hands.

The commentator in the video can also be heard saying that the reception is witnessing both “namaste and handshake.”

Here is the collage showing the frames at the 7.58- and 7.59-minute.

Hence, we conclude that the claim that PM Meloni refused to shake hands with PM Modi during her recent India visit is false.