‘Meloni namaste karna sikh gayi’: Italian PM welcomes guests with ‘namaste’ at G7 Summit in Italy

Chandigarh, June 13

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni on Thursday preferred to greet her guests with a namaste over a handshake at the G7 Summit.

In the pictures and videos, she can be seen greeting President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz with folded hands.

Several Indian netizens were happy to see Meloni accepting and preferring the Indian way of greeting people instead of a handshake.

“Meloni Namaste karna sikh gayi” (Meloni has learnt the Namaste gesture), commented one user.

The netizens also expressed excitement over Meloni and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s meeting as the cheerful friendliness between the two leaders had sparked a social media frenzy in the past.

Some netizens believed that this was “Modi’s magic”.

A user wrote, “Eagerly waiting for Modi and Meloni to come together.”

Glad my first visit in 3rd term is to Italy’, says PM Modi

Meanwhile, PM Modi has left for the G7 Summit.

He released a statement saying he was glad that his first foreign visit after assuming office for the third consecutive term was to Italy.

“At the invitation of Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, I am travelling to the Apulia region in Italy to participate in the G7 Outreach Summit on 14 June 2024. I am glad that my first visit in the third consecutive term is to Italy for the G-7 Summit,” read the statement.