Deputy leader of the Norwegian Nobel Committee Asle Toje on Thursday dismissed media reports claiming he said Prime Minister Narendra Modi was the biggest contender of the Nobel Peace Prize. Toje’s clarification came after some TV channels reported that the deputy leader of the Norwegian Nobel Committee had tipped PM Modi to be the “biggest contender” for the Nobel Peace Prize.
The TV channels reports surfaced hours after a now-viral tweet made similar claim. The tweet has received over 1.5 million impressions at the time of writing this.
Speaking to news agency ANI, Toje said he was in India not as a deputy leader of the esteemed committee, but as a director of International Peace and Understanding and as a friend of India Center Foundation (ICF). He stressed a “fake news tweet was sent out we should treat it as fake news.”
“I am not in India as Deputy leader of the Norwegian Nobel Committee, I am here as a Director of International Peace and Understanding and as a friend of India Center Foundation,” he said.
India Center Foundation (ICF) is a Delhi-based not-for-profit organisation.
