After the international AI summit in Paris, media outlets and social media accounts linked to the Russian government circulated a video claiming that French President Emmanuel Macron had snubbed Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, ignoring him and refusing to shake his hand. However, this claim is misleading. A longer version of the same footage shows that the two leaders had already met outside the venue and entered together. Additional photos and videos confirm that they had shaken hands beforehand.
The claim first surfaced on 11 February on Sputnik, Russia’s state news agency, which is widely regarded as a mouthpiece for Russian government propaganda. The outlet Russian-langage service reported: “Macron defiantly ignored Indian PM Modi and did not shake his hand at the AI summit in Paris.”
The allegation was accompanied by a video appearing to show Macron disregarding Modi’s extended hand. The French president was then seen greeting other world leaders at the closing ceremony of the Artificial Intelligence Action Summit in Paris on February 11, including US Vice President JD Vance and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.
The false claim was amplified by various pro-Russian media outlets, then picked up by international media and social media users in multiple languages, including English, French, Persian, and Arabic. The video quickly went viral in India, sparking widespread shock and anger among many users.
However, a longer version of the same video, capturing the moments before the apparent snub, shows that Modi and Macron entered the venue side by side, having already met outside as planned.
Photos published by multiple news agencies documented that the handshake between the two heads of state took place a few seconds before they entered the meeting.
According to the Associated Press and Reuters, Modi and Macron met at the entrance to the summit venue at 10:11am Paris time.
They entered side-by-side a few minutes later, as recorded by cameras inside, and then Macron began his closing speech.
According to the timestamp of this Reuters photo, the two leaders met and shook hands at 10:11am Paris time on February 11, 2025.
Then both heads of state joined other world leaders at the summit. The timestamp on this Reuters photo documents the moment when they entered the meeting at around 10:20am Paris time.
Then French President Macron gave a speech at the closing ceremony, as the timestamp on this AP photo shows.
The clip circulated by the Russian agency is thus misleading. In the footage, Macron extends his hand to greet someone standing behind Modi, while the Indian leader momentarily mistakes the gesture as intended for him.
First published here on the France24 website.
Ershad Alijani 