While world leaders gathered in France for the G7 Summit to discuss global challenges, it was a brief interaction between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni that grabbed attention online.As leaders assembled for the traditional group photograph, Meloni warmly greeted PM Modi, saying, “Nice to meet you again.” The Indian Prime Minister appeared to jokingly reference their social media popularity, prompting Meloni to respond with a smile, “Yes, we are the most famous on Instagram.”
The exchange quickly reignited the viral “Melodi” phenomenon, a nickname coined by internet users by combining the surnames of Modi and Meloni. The trend first exploded during the COP28 Summit in Dubai in 2023 when Meloni shared a selfie with PM Modi and captioned it with the hashtag “#Melodi.”Since then, nearly every public interaction between the two leaders has generated memes, fan edits and social media discussions.
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The latest G7 moment proved no different, with clips of their conversation rapidly circulating online.The popularity of the trend received another boost last month when PM Modi gifted Meloni a packet of Melody toffees during his visit to Rome. The gesture was widely seen as a playful acknowledgement of the viral nickname. A video of the exchange garnered millions of views and likes across social media platforms.Though the G7 summit focused on pressing international issues, it was the friendly Modi-Meloni interaction that once again became one of the internet’s favourite talking points.
