#Melodi memes explode as PM Modi meets Italy's Meloni at G7 Summit, revisiting story behind 'Melodi'

Prime Minister Narendra Modi met his Italian counterpart Giorgia Meloni on Friday at the venue of the G7 Summit in Italy. Both leaders greeted each other with folded hands and briefly exchanged greetings. #Melodi is trending on social media. Let's revisite how 'Melodi' took internet by storm.

As Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday arrived at the venue of the G7 Summit at the luxurious Borgo Egnazia resort in Italy’s Apulia region, where he was greeted by his Italian counterpart Giorgia Meloni, #Melodi started trending on X (formerly known as Twitter).

India has been invited to the G7 Summit as an Outreach country and this is PM Modi’s first overseas visit since he took oath as Prime Minister for the third straight term.

Let's take a look at what netizens are sharing on social media: 

How did #Melodi start?

For the unaware, '#Melodi' has been trending on social media since September, when India hosted the G20 Summit this year. People had taken notice of the two leaders' friendship. She shook hands with PM Modi as he welcomed her. After exchanging greetings, the two leaders laughed heartily for a few minutes.

The 46-year-old Italian leader posted the selfie with PM Modi on her Instagram and X handle and captioned the post as, "Good friends at COP28," with the hashtag '#Melodi'. The hashtag was created by combining the surnames of the two leaders

In other news, all eyes will be on a potential meeting of PM Modi's meeting with Trudeau. This is the first time when both leaders will face each other after the Canadian PM levelled allegations against India in the killing of Khalistani leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar in June last year. Trudeau's allegations came barely a few days after he left New Delhi following the G20 meeting.