Australia-India virtual summit wraps up with ‘samosa-khichdi’ diplomacy; Morrison misses ‘Modi hug’
Melbourne, June 4
After trying his hand on the crunchy samosas and delicious mango chutney, Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison on Thursday promised his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi that he would prepare Gujarati khichdi in his kitchen before their next meeting in person.
The two leaders shared some lighter moments during the first-ever India-Australia virtual summit amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
“It doesn’t surprise me, this is how (virtually) we’d continue to meet in these circumstances. You (PM Modi) are the one who started hologram in your campaigning many years ago, maybe next time we can have a hologram of you here,” he said, recalling Modi’s ‘hologram’ campaign ahead of the 2014 Lok Sabha election.
The virtual summit was wrapped up with ”Samosa-Khichdi” diplomacy.
“I thank you for the samosas….we had a lot of fun with it over the weekend,” Morrison said, referring to him making the samosas and tweeting about it.
Morrison said he wished he could be there for what had become the famous ‘Modi hug’ and share his samosas with his Indian counterpart.
“Next time, it will have to be the Gujarati khichdi. I will try that in the kitchen before next time we meet in person,” he said.
Responding to Morrison, Modi said, “Your samosas have become a topic of discussion in India. As you spoke about khichdi, the Gujaratis will be very happy to know this. There are so many Gujaratis settled in Australia. However, khichdi is a very common cuisine that is known by different names across the country.” PTI
