The rare sartorial misstep involved a pin-striped suitModi wore for his one-on-one meeting with visiting US President Barack Obama on Sunday.
When images of the prime minister were enlarged, it became clear that the subtle pink stripes were made up of the words “Narendra Damodardas Modi” printed in tiny letters on the tailored wool suit.
Close-up images of the suit have gone viral, triggering sardonic responses from social media users under the hashtag #ModiSuit.
“Maybe he was afraid that someone would steal his clothes?” Suprateek Chatterjee tweeted, calling it a “vanity-striped suit”.
Other critics were more blunt. “WTF were his designers thinking,” tweeted Vinay.
The suit — Modi’s second outfit of the day after he greeted the Obamas at the airport wearing a beige kurta and saffron shawl — clearly did not offend the US president.
Obama complimented Modi on his style during his toast at dinner that evening, and said he had considered wearing a kurta himself.
Modi is not the first world leader to wear his name on his sleeve. In 2011 former Egyptian leader Hosni Mubarak was photographed wearing a bespoke suit with his name printed into pin-stripes. – AFP
