Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s gesture to show respect for India’s National Flag during the group photo shoot of the leaders at the ongoing BRICS Summit in South Africa has won hearts.

PM Modi was cautious not to tread on a mini Tricolour lying on stage as he walked onto the podium to join other leaders for a group photo session at the BRICS summit in Johannesburg.

A video capturing the incident was shared by news agency ANI on X (formerly Twitter).

The video shows Prime Minister Modi and South African President Cyril Ramaphosa approaching their designated spots. Notably, Prime Minister Modi promptly picked up the mini Tricolour and kept it in his pocket.

The gesture caught the attention of South African President Ramaphosa and he then quickly retrieved the flag of his country and passed it on to a colleague. A woman present offers to take the Indian flag from Prime Minister Modi, but he gestures that it is fine, as seen in the video.

#WATCH | Johannesburg, South Africa | PM Narendra Modi notices Indian Tricolour on the ground (to denote standing position) during the group photo at BRICS, makes sure to not step on it, picks it up and keeps it with him. South African President Cyril Ramaphosa follows suit. pic.twitter.com/vf5pAkgPQo

— ANI (@ANI) August 23, 2023

Among the dignitaries featured in the group photo are Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, Chinese President Xi Jinping, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, PM Narendra Modi and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.

PM Modi is on a three-day visit to South Africa to attend the ongoing 15th BRICS Summit. The visit also saw substantial diplomatic engagements. A bilateral meeting between Prime Minister Modi and President Ramaphosa served as a platform to review the ties between India and South Africa. The two leaders discussed regional and multilateral issues as well as the possibilities to explore avenues for strengthening the influence of the Global South.

In a press release issued by the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), it was highlighted that both leaders expressed satisfaction with the progress in various fields including defence, agriculture, trade and investment, health, conservation, and people-to-people connections between India and South Africa. The leaders exchanged perspectives on continued collaboration within multilateral bodies and regional and mutual matters of interest.

President Ramaphosa voiced his support for India’s G20 presidency and appreciated India’s initiative in granting the African Union full membership of G-20, the MEA release added.

According to reports, PM Modi’s meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping is likely to be arranged during the BRICS summit. However, as of now, no official confirmation regarding this meeting has been given by MEA.

(Edited by : Sudarsanan Mani)

First Published:Aug 23, 2023 6:20 PM IST