A photograph uploaded on Narendra Modi’s Twitter account shows the Indian Prime Minister with Russian President Vladimir Putin before a group picture was taken at the BRICS summit meeting in Johannesburg on Friday.

In the picture, Modi appears to be patting, not hugging, Putin. Modi interacted with Putin, Chinese President Xi Jinping, Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan and several other leaders. If Modi did hug any of them, the photographic evidence was not exhibited.

No picture uploaded on Modi’s Twitter account showed the Prime Minister deploying the hug, till recently his favourite ice-breaker while meeting foreign leaders. Last week, Rahul Gandhi had appeared to catch Modi by surprise by hugging the Prime Minister in Parliament, prompting a BJP parliamentarian to make intemperate remarks