French President Emmanuel Macron met German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Thursday at the Fort of Bregancon in southern France. With Covid-19 cases piling up in both the countries, obliterating the fear of spreading germs through physical contact, the world leaders greeted each other with a 'namaste'.
In a video shared on President Emmanuel Macron's official Twitter, the European leaders were seen greeting each other with folded hands and exchanging bows before donning their surgical masks.
Reacting to the video, a user wrote, "#Namaste. The new internationally adopted way of greeting. Delighted to see that everyone has started adopting a little bit of Indian culture. It denotes that ancient Indian culture is much ahead since more than 4000 yrs."
"Namaste becomes the new Hello. French Prez @EmmanuelMacron greets German Chancellor #AngelaMerkel the Indian way," read another comment.
A user wrote, "After seeing this, I am feeling proud that our culture has given so many things to the world..."
While India has been utilizing the folded-hand-greeting way, it hasn't always been the French way of saying hello. But with handshakes, hugs and air kisses being considered a bad idea, French President Emmanuel Macron has chosen to greet his counterparts with folded hands. This, said the Ambassador of France to India, Emmanuel Lenain, was a "graceful gesture that he has retained from his India visit in 2018".
The French President isn't the only leader to greet people with 'namaste', Prince Charles, US President Donald Trump and Ireland Taoiseach Leo Varadkar are among the others who had gone desi and opted for the folded-hand-greeting instead of a handshake.
