Twitter erupts as tricolour spotted upside down in Modi-Abe meet

The Indian tricolour was upside down during a meeting between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Japanese counterpart Shinzo Abe at Kuala Lumpur on Saturday.

Updated on: Aug 21, 2019, 14:53:34 IST

By Rezaul H Laskar, Kuala Lumpur

Prefer HTon Google

Share via

Copy link

An upside down Indian flag formed the backdrop for Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s photo op with his Japanese counterpart Shinzo Abe in Kuala Lumpur on Saturday, sparking angry and humorous posts on social media.

The Indian Tricolour was put upside down as Modi and Abe met for a phot op before talks at the ASEAN-India Summit in Kuala Lumpur. (ANI)

The slip, which came to light when photos of Modi and Abe shaking hands before the flags of their countries were posted on social media, was attributed by Indian officials to the Japanese delegation. It left officials from both sides red-faced.

“It was a mistake by the other side, something that happened inadvertently. It was noticed and things were set right,” an Indian official who did not want to be named told Hindustan Times. Another source said the Japanese side had apologised for the mistake.

The Indian tricolour was seen in the photos with the green on top and the saffron at the bottom. The photo op came before Abe held talks with Modi over lunch on the sidelines of the ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations)-India Summit.

Alert social media users were quick to spot the error and this was followed by a flurry of tweets, some angry and others with a humorous take on the incident.

Modi arrived in Kuala Lumpur on Saturday morning for a three-day visit to Malaysia. Besides the ASEAN-India Summit on Saturday, he will also participate in the East Asia Summits and address the Indian diaspora on Sunday.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Rezaul H Laskar
Rezaul Hasan Laskar is Foreign Editor with the Hindustan Times, which he joined in 2015. He began as a journalist in his hometown of Shillong in northeast India and has worked in newspapers and wire services over the years. He moved to New Delhi in 1997 and initially focused on defence, national security, Jammu and Kashmir and the northeast, while also working of foreign policy and international relations. He has been part of the media delegation accompanying PMs on foreign visits and has reported from destinations ranging from Tibet to Ukraine. Between 2007 and 2013, he was the Press Trust of India correspondent in Pakistan, one of only two Indian journalists allowed to report from the country. He extensively covered Pakistan’s domestic politics and the life of the common people, as well as the fallout of the 2008 Mumbai attacks on India-Pakistan relations and the subsequent trial in Pakistan of the suspects involved in the attack. As part of his reportage in Pakistan, he travelled the breadth of the country, from the Swat Valley to Balochistan. Reza’s first gig in journalism was writing a weekly music column, and music – especially classic rock – remains a keen interest. He is also a movie buff and a keen photographer.Read More