Quick edit: Overseas buzz
1 min read 23 May 2023, 10:31 PM ISTIn Papua New Guinea, diplomacy took an unusual turn with the island nation’s Prime Minister James Marape parting with protocol to receive Modi after sunset, and, to surprise back home, welcoming him by touching his feet
PremiumPrime Minister Narendra Modi’s tour of Japan, Papua New Guinea and Australia has so far had all the optics we have come to expect of his foreign visits. In Papua New Guinea, diplomacy took an unusual turn with the island nation’s Prime Minister James Marape parting with protocol to receive Modi after sunset, and, to surprise back home, welcoming him by touching his feet. New Zealand Prime Minister Chris Hipkins, it is reported, also flew to Papua New Guinea especially to meet Modi, even though a meeting with US President Joe Biden was called off on account of a political tussle in Washington over America’s debt limit. Anyway, the Quad four did meet. And on Tuesday, in Sydney, Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese got a glimpse of Modi’s popularity with the Indian diaspora there. Cheers, slogans and roars had decibel levels that are unusual for that part of the world. On the whole, such was the impression made that Biden even sought Modi’s autograph in a light moment. How much of a difference all this makes in the hard give-and-take world of international diplomacy remains debatable, but the buzz Modi’s foreign visits generate remains strong.
