A video of Congress leader and Leader of the Opposition (LoP) Rahul Gandhi speaking on a stage is being shared on social media, where he can be heard talking about Prime Minister Narendra Modi's foreign policy.
What does he say?: In the video, Gandhi taking a dig at PM Modi's foreign policy, wondering where the idea of hugging world leaders as a part of it came from. He then calls upon Sandeep Dikshit, a fellow Congress leader, demonstrating the prime minister's 'foreign policy' by hugging him.
The claim: Those sharing this clip have claimed, "Rahul Gandhi literally making disgusting remarks against PM Modi and Giorgia Meloni (sic)," calling the statement "gutter-level politics."
While Gandhi did in fact take a dig at PM Modi, he did not mention, or refer to, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni.
How did we find out the truth?: The video was taken from a longer video of a recent event held by the Indian National Congress party, called the Rachnatmak Congress National Convention, held at New Delhi's Constitution Club on 12 and 13 August.
The portion of this video, relevant to the viral claim starts at the 47:36-minute mark.
Here, Gandhi takes a dig at PM Modi's foreign policy, asking who gave him the idea that hugging world leaders was supposed to be a part of it.
"I don't know how it entered his mind. It has entered their minds that foreign policy... is this. Come here for a second," Gandhi said, gesturing towards convener and fellow leader Sandeep Dikshit to come closer, before giving him a hug. "I don't know who put this in their heads, where it came from, that foreign policy means... I mean, imagine the ignorance. Foreign policy..."
Dikshit then interrupts Gandhi's asking, "May I ask you one thing? You didn't grab me thinking I was Meloni, did you?", with Gandhi responding by saying, "I have not reached there yet."
This longer version of the video makes it evident that Gandhi did not mention the Italian Prime Minister, Dikshit did.
Media reports: The incident drew heavy criticism in the media and social media, with the Bharatiya Janata Party calling Gandhi's behaviour "immature," as per an India Today report.
Another report by The Times of India mentioned that the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said that India had strong ties with Italy and the one should be respectful of them.
The same report also clearly stated that the remarks were made by Dikshit and not Gandhi.
Conclusion: A video of Rahul Gandhi taking a dig at PM Modi's foreign policy is being shared to falsely claim that he made "disgusting remarks" against the latter and Italian PM Giorgia Meloni.
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