Republic Day celebration with open arms: Modi hugs Abu Dhabi Crown Prince | Pics
The Crown Prince arrived on a three-day official visit and will be the chief guest at the ceremony.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi greeted Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, with, quite literally, open arms as he arrived in New Delhi on Tuesday to attend the Republic Day celebrations.
The Crown Prince is in India on a three-day official visit and will be the chief guest at the R-Day ceremony. Upon his arrival, he got a warm welcome --- and a taste of PM Modi’s penchant for hugging his guests.
“India & UAE share strong bonds of friendship & extensive cooperation. Looking forward to building on this & further cementing ties,” Modi tweeted after receiving the UAE leader.
Modi described the UAE as one of India’s most valued partners and a close friend in an important region of the world.
On Wednesday, an umbrella agreement on elevating bilateral ties to a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership was among 14 agreements signed by India and the UAE following delegation-level talks between Modi and Mohamed.
In his press statement after holding talks with the Crown Prince, Modi said he held “very fruitful and productive discussions” and that the talks “particularly focused on implementation of various decisions” taken during their last two meetings”.
Diplomacy aside, one of the high points of the Crown Prince’s visit was the delightful moments for shutterbugs.
From former US President Barack Obama to Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Modi’s public displays of affection have greeted many world leaders.
During his visit to the US in September last year, he also embraced Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg at a Townhall meeting at the tech giant’s headquarters in California.
It was exactly a year ago that another image of Modi hugging was widely shared on social media.
French president Francois Hollande was in India to attend the Republic Day celebrations as chief guest. As part of his visit, he was in Chandigarh’s Rock Garden with Modi when the ‘Titanic Embrace’ photo was captured.
The hug that is now being eagerly anticipated is the one between Modi and President Donald Trump following the phone call between the two leaders on Wednesday night.