What happened
India's Ministry of External Affairs has denied rumors circulating on social media that Chinese leader Xi Jinping and South African President Cyril Ramaphosa fell ill after attending the BRICS summit in India.
The rumors claimed that Xi Jinping suffered a significant illness, with some reports alleging that he fainted, suffered a stroke, and was hospitalized. However, these claims were made by anti-communist opposition groups and were not supported by evidence.
The Indian government described the rumors as malicious and cautioned against spreading false information on social media. The Chinese government has not commented on the rumors, but the Chinese Foreign Ministry previously confirmed that Xi Jinping returned to Beijing after a successful attendance at the BRICS summit.
Meanwhile, the South African government confirmed that President Ramaphosa is experiencing an unspecified illness and will be canceling his public engagements to recover. The government stated that Ramaphosa's illness is unrelated to the BRICS summit, but the timing of the announcement contributed to the speculation about the health of world leaders who attended the summit.
The BRICS summit, which was hosted by India, aimed to promote economic and security cooperation among its member nations, including Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa. The summit was marked by divisions among member nations, but it concluded without any major incidents.
