Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressed the Indian community in Auckland during his visit to New Zealand. During his speech, he also spoke about India’s development. A clip from this speech is being widely shared on social media.
Sharing the clip, users claim that ‘PM Modi said India is the world’s second-largest beef-producing country.’
Another user, Rashmi INC Bharatiya, wrote, “Tension and vote bank in the name of Gau Mata (Mother Cow) in India, but after reaching New Zealand, lecturing on beef and fish! These are the same people who keep Gau Mata at home and hand out knowledge about beef and fish outside. This is the height of hypocrisy, brother!”
Additionally, several other users have shared this clip of PM Modi with the beef claim, which can be seen here, here, and here.
Fact check:
The DFRAC team investigated the viral claim and found it to be misleading. PM Modi did not state in Auckland that India is the world’s second-largest beef-producing country. In his original statement, PM Modi referred to India as the world’s second-largest producer of wheat (गेहूं), which has been misleadingly presented as beef. The transcript of the speech available on the Prime Minister’s official website also mentions wheat.
To verify the context of the viral video, we checked PM Modi’s official YouTube channel, Narendra Modi, where we found the speech uploaded in the Shorts section. The speech’s text is also displayed in the video, clearly showing that PM Modi said “wheat producer,” not “beef producer.”
We also found the same speech shared by news agencies ANI and IANS. ANI quoted PM Modi as saying: “Today India is the world’s fastest-growing major economy. India is the world’s largest vaccine producer. India is among the leading countries in the world in terms of mobile data usage. India is the world’s second-largest mobile manufacturer. India is the world’s second-largest telecom market. India is the world’s second-largest wheat producer. India is the world’s largest milk producer. India is the world’s second-largest fish producer.”
IANS also published the same statement. Additionally, our team examined the written version of PM Modi’s speech available on his official website www.pmindia.gov.in. The transcript clearly states: “Today India is the world’s fastest-growing major economy. India is the world’s largest Vaccine Producer. India is among the leading countries in the world in Mobile Data Consumption. Today India is the world’s second-largest Mobile Manufacturer. Today India is the world’s second-largest Telecom Market. Today India is the world’s second-largest Wheat Producer. Today India is the world’s largest Milk Producer. Today India is the world’s second-largest Fish Producer.” (English Translation)
During our investigation, we found that PM Modi did not mention beef anywhere in his speech.
Conclusion:
DFRAC’s investigation clearly shows that PM Modi did not call India the world’s second-largest beef-producing country during his address in Auckland. He referred to India as the world’s second-largest wheat-producing country. Therefore, the viral claim is misleading. The meaning and structure have been preserved, while grammar, punctuation, and readability have been improved for publication.
