An image of Prime Minister Narendra Modi standing with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping is going viral as a recent visual from the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit.
What did users say?: All those who shared the photo have uploaded it with a caption that said, "The real TRIAD shaping future global order ! All eyes on Vishwaguru. (sic)"
What's the truth?: The viral claim is misleading. While the trio recently met at the 2025 SCO summit, this particular image dates back to 2018 and is from Argentina's Buenos Aires.
How did we find that out?: Using the help of Google Lens, we conducted a reverse image search and found a similar visual published in a news report published by CGTN.
It said that PM Modi, Chinese President Jinping, and Russian President Putin held talks to strengthen trilateral coordination to increase cooperation and build consensus among the three countries.
They agreed to jointly promote world peace, development, and stability.
The official X handle of PMO India, too, had shared visuals from the meet that was held in Argentina's Buenos Aires.
The images were shared on 1 December 2018 with a caption that said, "Deepening engagement with valued development partners. President Vladimir Putin, President Xi Jinping and PM @narendramodi participate in the RIC (Russia, India, China) trilateral in Buenos Aires. @KremlinRussia."
What about SCO summit?: All three leaders recently met at the 2025 SCO summit that was held in China. PM Modi shared pictures from his interaction with both the leaders on his official X handle.
The images were shared on 1 September.
It was captioned, "Interactions in Tianjin continue! Exchanging perspectives with President Putin and President Xi during the SCO Summit."
Conclusion: Evidently, the image of the three leaders is from 2018 and from Buenos Aires.
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