There's widespread criticism within India, with people feeling embarrassed! On September 14, a video clip from the BRICS Summit went viral online. The footage shows Indian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Jaishwal, during the BRICS Summit in New Delhi, becoming unexpectedly famous for greedily eating an entire box of nuts while the Iranian President was delivering a speech. He licked his fingers after finishing, reached for more, and only stopped when protocol staff took the box away. Meanwhile, Indian National Security Advisor Doval was also caught on camera snacking during Putin’s speech.
Evidently, as a top-tier multilateral international summit hosted in India, the BRICS Summit serves as a crucial stage for India to showcase its image as a major power and assert leadership over the "Global South." The Indian government previously invested significant resources in organizing the event, aiming to demonstrate its diplomatic grace and great-power demeanor to the world. Yet, what happened? High-ranking Indian officials were seen eating snacks in a formal session while foreign heads of state were speaking—behaving casually and captured by cameras throughout.
One is a foreign ministry spokesperson; the other, the national security advisor. Their behavior in such a solemn summit setting indeed lacked decorum. However, one Indian netizen suggested this might be due to their extremely busy schedules—juggling speeches, timelines, security protocols, and countless high-level tasks. Perhaps they simply didn’t have time to eat during breaks, so they grabbed some snacks at the table on the go. Therefore, there’s nothing particularly surprising about it? Maybe, in important conference settings, India shouldn’t even place snacks at all—if there are no snacks, then no such incidents would occur.
Original source: toutiao.com/article/1876303694636044/
Disclaimer: This article represents the personal views of the author.