New Delhi, Jan 16 (IANS): After the BJP on Sunday condemned the meme video released by Congress that purportedly attempted to highlight the "awkwardness" in Prime Minister Narendra Modi hugging various world leaders, the party said virtues of humour in politics should be appreciated.

"I think it is time that we started appreciating the virtues of humour in politics. I think it is time that we stopped tilting at windmills," said Congress spokesperson Abhishek Manu Singhvi, adding that puncturing of pomposity was very important.

"Whatever view (the video) depicts is nothing but a sense of humour and a coining of words. Let me be very clear that the content cannot be said by any stretch of perverse or normal imagination to be vicious or in any sense meant to create a mala fide intent," he said.

"I will leave it at that and say that certain sense of humour should not escape us and that is all that (the video) depicts," Singhvi also added.

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Sunday condemned the meme video and said that the opposition party had lost its "sense and balance".

The Congress posted a video hashtag "Hugplomacy" on its official Twitter handle that seemingly captured a few "awkward" moments in Modi meeting different world leaders, including US President Donald Trump, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and also Netanyahu, among others.

The tweet read: "With Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu visiting India, we look forward to more hugs from PM Modi! #Hugplomacy."