 "Russian President Vladimir Putin and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi shake hands during a meeting on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit in Tianjin, China. Reuters")
Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s exchanges with global leaders at the SCO Summit created a sensation online in China.
The camaraderie between Prime Minister Modi and Russian President Vladimir Putin dominated the headlines. The pair were spotted walking hand-in-hand, embracing warmly, and even taking a spin in President Putin’s car. The scenes sparked a frenzy on social media, particularly in China, where footage of the “Modi-Putin moments” quickly climbed to the top of trending charts.
On Baidu, China’s leading search engine, the number one trend was: “Modi and Putin hugged and chatted hand-in-hand.”
On the Chinese social media platform Weibo, it was even simpler: “Modi takes Putin’s car.”
The video of PM Modi having a light-hearted moment with President Putin went viral on Chinese social media site Weibo.
One Weibo user said, “Modi rides Putin’s car that’s more symbolic than any speech at the summit.”
In addition, the Prime Minister’s appearance in China drew the attention of Chinese social media. “Modi is positive about China.” was trending on Weibo on Tuesday morning and has been seen more than 7 million times.
Another trending video on Weibo was “Indian Embassy Releases Video of Modi Receiving Warm Welcome in Tianjin.”
A leading Chinese news portal featured the PM’s visit among its top headlines, which got over 5 million views.