'Misleading': India Calls Out ‘Malicious’ Posts Suggesting Some World Leaders Fell Ill Post-BRICS Summit

New Delhi: India’s Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) on Thursday issued multiple “Fake Alert” and “Misleading” notices on its official fact-check account, strongly cautioning the public against a wave of malicious social media posts claiming that several world leaders had fallen ill after attending the recent BRICS Summit in India.

The posts, which gained traction on X, alleged that multiple leaders, including South African President Cyril Ramaphosa and, in some versions, Chinese President Xi Jinping, had become unwell following the summit.

In a series of posts, @MEAFactCheck labelled the circulating content as “Misleading!” and “Fake Alert!!!”, stating: “We caution against such malicious posts on social media platforms!” The ministry shared screenshots of the offending posts stamped with red “FAKE” or “MISLEADING” overlays to debunk the narrative.

Separately, South Africa announced that President Ramaphosa was taking time off from public engagements “due to ill health.” His office made no suggestion that the health issue was connected in any way to the BRICS Summit held in India.

Claims that Xi Jinping had also fallen ill had surfaced earlier. Neither India nor China has confirmed any such illness. Xi remains scheduled to meet US President Donald Trump in Washington next week.

The MEA’s rapid response aims to counter such coordinated attempts to spread disinformation targeting India’s successful hosting of the BRICS event. 

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