Papua New Guinea Prime Minister James Marape bowed and touched Narendra Modi’s feet to show respect as he welcomed the Indian Prime Minister to the island nation.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrived in Port Moresby on May 21, starting his visit to Papua New Guinea. He was welcomed by the Papua New Guinea government with a red carpet and a 19-gun salute, a break from the island nation’s tradition of not hosting foreign leaders after sunset.
Papua New Guinea Prime Minister James Marape welcomes his Indian counterpart in the elevator. Mr. Marape also bent down and touched Mr. Modi, a gesture of respect that is common in Indian culture.
“I would like to thank Prime Minister Marape for his arrival at the airport. It was a very special gesture that I will remember forever. I look forward to closer ties between India and this wonderful country in the coming years. wrote on Twitter.
The Prime Minister of Papua New Guinea bows to touch the feet of the Prime Minister of India
Papua New Guinea Prime Minister James Marape welcomes Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi at Port Moresby Airport on May 21. Video: ANI
This is the first time an Indian prime minister has visited Papua New Guinea and Port Moresby is Modi’s second stop on the trip, after attending the expanded G7 summit in Japan. Mr. Mod and Mr. Marape will co-chair the India-Pacific Islands Cooperation Forum (FIPIC) on 22 May.
Papua New Guinea is a Pacific island nation with an area of over 460,000 square kilometers and a population of 8.9 million people. India and Papua New Guinea have close relations. In 2021, India provided a large amount of Covid-19 vaccine to Papua New Guinea as the island nation faced a health crisis, due to the delay in the supply of vaccines under the COVAX mechanism.
After Papua New Guinea, Mr. Modi will visit Australia from May 22nd to 24th before returning home.
Nhu Tam (according to ANI, Times of India)
