Indian tricolour seen hoisted upside down during PM Modi’s photo op with Shinzo Abe at ASEAN

New Delhi: In a major embarrassment Indian tricolour was seen hoisted upside down during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s photo op with Japanese counterpart Shinzo Abe before bilateral talks on the sidelines of the ASEAN and East Asia Summits in Kuala Lumpur on Saturday morning.

India's national flag was in the background of Modi and Abe’s customary handshake on the sidelines of the Summit and was hoisted on a stand next to that of Japan.

The flag is seen with the green at top and saffron down as the two leaders met at the Malaysian capital where Modi reached on Saturday morning on the first leg of the visit to the region. He will be in Singapore on Monday for a key visit to boost strategic and economic ties. In Malaysia Modi will address both India-ASEAN and East Asia Summits.

“It was an inadvertent mistake in the rush of things. It was unfortunate,” official sources said with reference to the flag incident. Technically protocol division of MEA is in charge with these arrangements in collaboration with local hosts.

Meanwhile away from this embarrassment Abe hosted Modi for a lunch at Kuala Lumpur less than a month before his visit to Delhi for the annual Summit. That visit could see landmark Indo-Japan civil nuclear agreement, pact for joint defence production besides document on high speed railways and progress on economic relations.