French President Emmanuel Macron welcomed German Chancellor Angela Merkel at his Mediterranean holiday retreat, the Fort of Bregancon, in South France and chose to go for the traditional Indian greeting of ‘Namaste,’ as the COVID-19 pandemic has forced people to do away with handshakes and maintain physical distancing.
The purpose of the two leaders meeting at the French President's summer residence was to discuss a long list of subjects that include the pandemic, post-election unrest in Belarus and growing tensions with Turkey.
Willkommen im Fort de Brégançon, liebe Angela! pic.twitter.com/lv8yKm6wWV
— Emmanuel Macron (@EmmanuelMacron) August 20, 2020
‘Namaste’ has become a very popular form of greeting among world leaders in the time of the coronavirus pandemic. The Indian style of greeting, now preferred over the usual handshake, not only helps in maintaining social distancing, but also helps in avoiding infection.
US President Donald Trump and Israel Prime Minister Benjamin are among some of the well known world leaders who have taken to the Indian style of greeting.
Donald Trump was also spotted greeting visiting Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar, in March, with folded hands. "We did not shake hands today. We looked at each other and said what we are going to do. You know, sort of a weird feeling," Trump told reporters after his meeting with Mr Varadkar.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi also spoke about the trend when he addressed the India Global Week 2020. "You would have seen ‘Namaste’ has gone global as a form of greeting. The pandemic has also seen the universal appeal of yoga, Ayurveda and traditional medicine world over. India's ancient culture and universal peaceful ethos are its strength," he was quoted saying at the event.
Emmanuel Macron's video of reciprocating with "Namaste" to the German Chancellor was posted on Twitter by multiple news agencies. The video received warm and positive responses by a number of people. The responses called Namaste as the 'new Hello,’ ‘the formal form' of meeting people, and how it has become a universal form of greeting across the world.
#Namaste is now the formal form of greeting for most world leaders. That's the French president & Germany's Chancellor greeting each other.
— Nikhil Dwivedi (@Nikhil_Dwivedi) August 21, 2020
How very very cool is this!!!
We were centuries ahead once. Hoping that we shall find our rightful place in the world order again :) #India https://t.co/ZoQzbgYTRl
Lovely!
— Geeta Mohan گیتا موہن गीता मोहन (@Geeta_Mohan) August 21, 2020
France or Germany, #Namaste has become the universal form of greeting.
"Welcome to Fort de Brégançon Dear Angela!" @EmmanuelMacron@francediplo_EN @GermanyDiplo@FranceinIndia @GermanyinIndia @AmbLindnerIndia @Indian_Embassy @JawedAshraf5 @eoiberlin @narendramodi pic.twitter.com/305ONZm1Lf
Namaste is the new Hello!
— Suresh Halwankar (@SureshHalwankar) August 21, 2020
French President @EmmanuelMacron meets German Chancellor Angela Merkel the Indian way Namaste https://t.co/I4pGkDVc99
Love how everyone's begun doing the #Namaste https://t.co/jvYwIfgjMR
— Conrad Egbert (@egbertconrad) August 20, 2020