India to stop sending greetings during overflights

New Delhi: India has decided its leaders need not observe outdated norms of courtesy while entering another country's airspace. It used to be the norm that the President or the Prime Minister during their official visits abroad would convey their "greetings" to their counterparts and "friendly people" as they entered the airspace of each country they were overflying.
Having realised that hardly any countries observed this "outdated protocol," the government decided to dispense with the practice of Indian leaders sending out their greetings. On a journey from India to the United States, for example, the President or the Prime Minister would have sent out greetings to their counterparts beginning from Pakistan to Afghanistan and "around a dozen other countries."
Given that the greeting is hardly ever even acknowledged, it was deemed to be a waste of time and the decision was taken "in keeping with changing times," a government official said.
"Certainly no European country observes this practice," a western diplomat said. "Who has the time? Leaders travel so much nowadays."
02/03/07 Nilova Roy Chaudhury/Hindustan Times

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Categories: Foreign Mar 2007, General Aviation Mar 2007