Prime Minister Narendra Modi's friendship with Italian Premier Giorgia Meloni has been the subject of much discussion and memes on the internet. After inviting the Indian PM to the high-profile G7 Summit on Friday, the two leaders clicked another selfie that once again sent the social media world into a frenzy and got the hashtag #Melodi trending again.
Meloni, who seems to be well-versed with the online sub-culture, had previously shared a selfie with her Indian counterpart after a meeting at the COP28 Summit in Dubai last year, writing, "Good friends at COP28," with the hashtag '#Melodi'. The hashtag has been created by combining the surnames of the two leaders.
Meloni also uploaded a video of her selfie with PM Modi, saying, "Hello from the Melodi team", which further caused meme-lovers to fawn over the two leaders. "Meloni loves memes. She frequently gives bait for more," said one social media user, while another said, "Two coolest and Powerful Prime Ministers in one frame."
Netizens could not stop gushing over the 'melodious' reunion between the two leaders as PM Modi arrived at Borgo Egnazia, Italy, to attend the G7 Outreach Session and was welcomed warmly by Giorgia Meloni. The two leaders greeted each other with the traditional 'namaste' gesture at the start of the summit and also held a bilateral meeting later in the day, where they discussed ways to further India-Italy relations.
As expected, the selfie of PM Modi and Meloni sent social media fans raging on X. "New Meme Material PIC," wrote one user, while another said, "Selfie zaruri hai." One thing is certain, the selfie is easily the 'picture of the day' in PM Modi's visit to Italy.
Notably, PM Modi met numerous leaders during his visit, including US President Joe Biden, UK PM Rishi Sunak, Canadian PM Justin Trudeau, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz. All the leaders of G7 countries, partner countries and heads of International Organisations came together for a family photo, with PM Modi occupying the centre stage beside Scholz and Japanese PM Fumio Kishida.
This marks the PM's first foreign trip since taking oath to kick-start his record third term in the Indian Parliament. He also greeted and shared a hug with Pope Francis at the G7 Outreach Session on Artificial Intelligence, Energy, Africa and the Mediterranean in Italy, later extending an invitation to the pontiff to visit India.
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