I Bow Out With a Namaste to You: Syed Akbaruddin as he Bids UN Chief Antonio Guterres Adieu

Many also tweeted their thanks to Syed Akbaruddin for his service as India's Permanent Representative to the UN.

Written by: Trending Desk Edited by: Dianne Nongrum

Published: May 1, 2020, 6:12 PM IST

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https://www.india.com/viral/i-bow-out-with-a-namaste-to-you-syed-akbaruddin-as-he-bids-un-chief-antonio-guterres-adieu-4016860/ Copy

Syed Akbaruddin saying goodbye to Antonio Guterres. Photo Courtesy: Twitter

Our world is full of traditions and cultures that are very diverse from one another, and it’s not always that we get to showcase them. We can not often greet people the way we usually would do in our own country, and normally a ‘Hi’ or a ‘Bye’ would involve a handshake. Well, India’s outgoing Permanent Representative to the UN, Ambassador Syed Akbaruddin, decided to do it the Indian way when he bade farewell UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres during a virtual meeting with a “Namaste”.

In the video, Akbaruddin can be heard telling the UN chief, “Before I leave Secretary General, I have one last small request and that is in the Indian tradition, when we leave or when we meet, we don’t stay hello or shake hand but we say Namaste. So before I end I want to say Namaste to you and I hope if you can reciprocate.” Adding, “I bow out with a Namaste to you.”

Akbaruddin shared the video of his interaction with Guterres on his Twitter page, with the latter seen responding to the former with Namaste. The clip has so far been retweeted over 9k times and garnered over 51k likes.

Time to bow out, with the usual🙏🏽 pic.twitter.com/BM6m7j7qQW

— Syed Akbaruddin (@AkbaruddinIndia) April 30, 2020

Many also tweeted their thanks to Akbaruddin for his service as India’s Permanent Representative to the UN, with most saying that he will be missed at the UN.

Syed, it was a pleasure to work with you. You represented India well. Michael and I wish you the very best in your future endeavors. Namaste Ji. 🙏🏽

— Nikki Haley (@NikkiHaley) April 30, 2020

You will be missed at the UN, Ambassador. Wishing you the very best, do stay in touch. From all of us at ANI, thank you. pic.twitter.com/WrVEvEjFCN

— Smita Prakash (@smitaprakash) April 30, 2020

Namaste ambassador. Thank you for being a credit to your service and your country.

— Sadanand Dhume (@dhume) April 30, 2020

What an outstanding tenure, wish you the very best for the next chapter

— Nidhi Razdan (@Nidhi) April 30, 2020

Akbaruddin had assumed office as India’s envoy to the UN in January 2016, and now he will be replaced by diplomat TS Tirumurti, who is currently serving as Secretary in the Ministry of External Affairs.