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‘My good friend Tulsi bhai’: Here's how PM Modi greeted this UN agency chief
Ghebreyesus will unveil the WHO global summit which will take place on August 17 and 18 in Gandhinagar.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday welcomed World Health Organisation director general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, who arrived in India to attend the WHO-global summit.
“My good friend Tulsi Bhai is clearly well prepared for Navratri! Welcome to India, @DrTedros!” the prime minister shared an X post by Ministry of Ayush which shows Ghebreyesus performing a dandiya dance at the venue.
‘Tulsi bhai’ is a Gujarati name given to the WHO chief by Prime Minister Modi. During his address at the Global AYUSH Investment and Innovation Summit last year, Modi had said,"Tedros is a good friend of mine. He always told me Indian teachers taught me and I am here because of them. Today he told me - 'I have become a pucca Gujarati. Have you decided a name for me?' So I will call him Tulsi bhai as a Gujarati."
Ghebreyesus will inaugurate the event in the presence of Union Minister of Health Mansukh Mandaviya and Minister of Ayush Sarbananda Sonowal
The event will be attended by G20 health ministers, WHO regional directors and eminent invitees from countries across the UN health body's six regions. Besides this, scientists, traditional medicine practitioners, health workers and civil society members are also expected to attend.
The sessions will be focused on research, evidence and learning, policy, data and regulation, innovation and digital health, biodiversity, equity and traditional healthcare knowledge.
“The WHO has been collaborating with member countries in the region to strengthen pharma co-vigilance and research capacity and set benchmarks for training and practices in several traditional medicine systems in the region to assess the efficacy of product”, Dr Poonam Khetrapal Singh, WHO Regional Director for South-East Asia, told PTI.
The ministry will also be organising yoga and meditation sessions at the Convention Centre. There also will be yoga and meditation sessions at hotel venues, as well as short Yoga breaks at Mahatma Mandir Convention Centre between sessions, ANI reported.
