India Denies Claims Leaders Fell Ill After BRICS Summit - Tempo.co English

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - India's Ministry of External Affairs has rejected social media claims that several world leaders fell ill after attending the BRICS Summit held in New Delhi on September 12-13, calling the reports "fake" and warning against "malicious" posts. 

The MEA's fact-checking unit posted on X: "Fake Alert!!! We caution against such malicious posts on social media platforms!" This included a social media post by Polymarket, one of the world's largest prediction market platforms. 

The clarification followed genuine confirmation from South African President Cyril Ramaphosa's office that he had withdrawn from public engagements after returning from the summit, having been advised to rest due to ill health. 

Separately, unverified posts claimed Chinese President Xi Jinping fainted and left the summit early for medical treatment. The claim originated from Wanjun Xie, chair of the China Democracy Party, and was not confirmed by Chinese or Indian officials. Beijing has banned the party.

Xi is confirmed to have attended the summit and met bilaterally with Prime Minister Narendra Modi.