Original article (in Albanian) was published on 19/2/2024; Author: Ilda Hoxha
Claim: Emmanuel Macron did not shake hands with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi during the Artificial Intelligence summit in Paris.
Verdict: Lack of context
French President Emmanuel Macron did not ignore Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi during the Artificial Intelligence summit held in Paris.
A video shared on social media in our country claims that the French President Emmanuel Macron ignored the indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi during the AI summit in Paris.
‘Macron ignores Modi at the AI summit organized by France and India,‘ reported ABC News.
In the video shared, Macron is seen greeting a number of political figures, including U.S. Vice President JD Vance and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi is seated nearby, but the video shows that Macron does not extend his hand to greet him.
But what is the truth behind these images?
On February 10-11, 2025, France hosted the Artificial Intelligence (AI) Summit, bringing together more than a thousand participants, including leaders from around 100 countries, to discuss matters related to the fair and ethical development of AI. The summit was co-chaired by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who arrived at the conference alongside Emmanuel Macron.
Before the arrival of the two leaders, two empty chairs are seen to the right of European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, reserved for Modi and Macron. Once at the conference, Modi sits ahead of Macron, who greets the guests present in the hall. However, prior to this moment, Macron and Modi were together, and to the left of the Indian Prime Minister, there is a chair reserved for Macron. The video shared on social media only shows this specific moment, not revealing the instance when the two politicians arrived together at the conference.
In other videos from the conference, as well as in some photos shared by Modi himself on his X account, the two leaders are seen greeting each other multiple times, shaking hands, and embracing each other during the summit.These claims have also been verified by the colleagues at Facta News.
