An error in translation led Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi to mistakenly state that Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi had referred to her as his “beautiful sister” during a press conference in New Delhi on July 2. The misunderstanding arose from the translation process that involved multiple languages, officials clarified.
During the joint press conference, Modi addressed Takaichi in Hindi as “my sister.” This was initially translated into English as “my younger sister.” However, when the English version was subsequently interpreted into Japanese, it was inaccurately rendered as “beautiful sister.” This mistranslation led Takaichi to repeat the phrase, believing it to be correct.
Takaichi commented that she and Modi had resolved to maintain their relationship as brother and sister, based on the translated phrase she received. The Japanese government has since acknowledged the mistake, attributing it to the complexities involved in simultaneous relay interpretation between Hindi, English, and Japanese.
Japanese officials have assured that the error did not impact diplomatic relations between Japan and India. The Indian government has reportedly not raised any issues regarding the mistranslation, indicating that the incident has not caused any diplomatic tension between the two countries.
