Masoud Pezeshkian
New Delhi: Within hours of the BRICS Summit getting over in the national capital on Sunday, September 13, a video of Iran President Masoud Pezeshkian bending down in front of a Hindu spiritual leader at an event went viral, with a section of users claiming the leader was touching the latter’s feet.
While it is difficult to ascertain what really happened, some media reports quoted sources in the Iranian Embassy as saying the viral video and images are misleading.
Pezeshkian was in New Delhi for the BRICS Summit 2026 and met Hindu spiritual leader Jagadguru Swami Satishacharya Maharaj during a special interfaith and cultural dialogue reception hosted at The Oberoi Hotel on the sidelines of the summit.
What actually transpired, media reports quoted Iran embassy sources as saying, was something as mundane as Pezeshkian dropping a note he had been given by another leader earlier. He bent down to pick it up, and soon enough, so did the Swami. However, it has been twisted to claim that Pezeshkian was touching the Jagadguru’s feet—a practice common among Hindus but not among Muslims.
A closer look at the video shows Pezeshkian bending down while holding the spiritual guru’s hand. Several social media users noted that he appeared to be reaching for something on the floor, rather than touching the spiritual leader’s feet.
Jagadguru Swami Satishacharya Maharaj is the Peethadhishwar of Premeshwar Dham in Kalyanpur, Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh. In a post on his official Instagram account, Jagadguru Satishacharya shared photos with Pezeshkian on September 11.
The Oberoi Hotel event brought together figures from different religious and social backgrounds and formed part of Iran’s cultural and people-to-people engagement during the summit.
This post was last modified on September 13, 2026 9:34 pm