A claim is doing the rounds stating that while Russian President Vladimir Putin had received his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping at the airport during the latter's visit, he did not perform the same gesture during Prime Minister Narendra Modi's recent visit to Russia.
Who shared it?: Resharing a post of Times of India which talked about PM Modi's visit to Moscow, former Rajya Sabha MP Subramanian Swamy said, "Putin did not come to the airport to receive Modi? Putin had received Xi."
Are these claims true?: No, the claim is misleading as President Putin had not received both the said leaders at the airport.
PM Modi was welcomed by Russia's First Deputy Prime Minister Denis Manturov during his recent visit.
Whereas, the Chinese President was greeted by Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Chernyshenko when the former visited in 2023.
This means that PM Modi was welcomed by a higher ranking official.
About PM Modi's visit to Russia: A keyword search directed us to a news report published in Times of India, which talked about PM Modi's visit to Russia.
The report said that PM Modi arrived in Moscow and was received at the airport by Russia First Deputy PM Denis Manturov.
It mentioned that Manturov is senior to the Deputy Prime Minister, who welcomed the Chinese President when he had visited Russia.
The report further mentioned that the reception of PM Modi sent a strong signal about the importance of Russia's relations with India.
Visuals from the visit: We found a video available on the official YouTube channel of PM Modi, which showed him being welcomed after landing at the airport.
He was received by Manturov and was accorded a guard of honour.
It should be noted that President Putin recently conferred Russia's highest national award "The Order of St. Andrew the Apostle" on PM Modi, which was announced in 2019.
The official Facebook handle of Ministry of Information & Broadcasting, too, shared visuals from PM Modi's visit.
Its caption mentioned, "PM Narendra Modi was received by 1st Deputy Prime Minister (1st DPM) of Russia, Mr Denis Manturov. Mr Manturov is senior to the Deputy Prime Minister who received Chinese President during his visit to Russia..."
Who received Chinese President Xi Jinping?: According to a report published in Xinhua — a Chinese news agency, the Chinese President was on a state visit to Russia in March 2023.
It said that President Xi was greeted by Russia's Deputy PM Dmitry Chernyshenko and other senior officials when he landed at the airport.
The report mentioned "Xi inspected the honor guard of the three services and watched the march-past."
Other sources: Team WebQoof found visuals of the Chinese President's visit to Moscow on an unverified YouTube channel named 'CCTV Video News Agency'.
It did not show President Xi being received at the airport by the Russian President as claimed by Swamy in the viral post.
We further came across the itinerary of President Xi's visit to Russia on the official website of China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
It, too, mentioned that he was received by Russian Deputy PM Dmitry Chernyshenko and other senior Russian officials.
Conclusion: It is clear that the claim of the Russian President receiving his Chinese counterpart during the latter's visit to Russia is false.
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