Prime Minister Narendra Modi was on Friday seen assisting the 84-year-old veteran Maharashtra politician, Sharad Pawar, in Delhi during an event and won applause from the audience.
A video of audience breaking into a round of applause on seeing PM Modi help Sharad Pawar take his seat and offer him a glass of water surfaced on social media on Friday.
PM Modi and Nationalist Congress Party (NCP-SP) patriarch Pawar patriarch were attending the inauguration of the 98th Akhil Bharatiya Marathi Sammelan in Delhi.
PM Modi, who was to start the function by lighting the ceremonial lamp, requested Pawar, the chairman of the reception committee of the event, to come forward and do the honours with him.
Came on Pawar's invitation, says PM
{{/usCountry}}PM Modi, who was to start the function by lighting the ceremonial lamp, requested Pawar, the chairman of the reception committee of the event, to come forward and do the honours with him.
Came on Pawar's invitation, says PM
{{/usCountry}}Later, as Sharad Pawar concluded his address and came to his seat next to PM Modi, the latter helped the senior leader to his seat and then offered him a glass of water.
When PM Modi started his speech, he said that it was at Sharad Pawar's invitation that he agreed to inaugurate the event.
"Today, at the invitation of Sharad Pawar ji, I have got this opportunity to join this proud tradition," news agency PTI quoted PM Modi as saying.
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PM Modi and Sharad Pawar were seen chatting affectionately throughout the function.
At the event, PM Modi asserted that there has never been any animosity between languages of India since they influence and enrich each other. PM's remark came amid the Centre vs Tamil Nadu government faceoff over the three-language mandate under the National Education Policy (NEP).
"There has never been any animosity among Indian languages. Languages have always influenced and enriched each other. Often, when efforts are made to create divisions based on language, our shared linguistic heritage provides a strong counterargument. It is our social responsibility to distance ourselves from these misconceptions and to embrace and enrich all languages. That is why today we are looking at all the languages of the country as mainstream languages," PTI quoted PM Modi.