Dominican Republic adopts 'Namaste' as form of greeting in the wake of Coronavirus crisis

The Dominican Republic has joined the league of countries promoting 'Namaste' for greeting. The Caribbean nation appealed to the world to adopt the Indian way. Many global leaders have already advocated and have displayed the Indian greeting including UK' Prince Charles and US President Donald Trump.

While greetings are done in different ways across the globe, what remains common is the reason behind it. Regardless of the form of gesture, the idea is to show respect. Indian salutation 'Namaste' is a centuries-old practice that is gaining rapid global acceptance and this time it has nothing to do with culture. It is not that people have not heard of how Indians greet but global leaders are rapidly adopting, advocating and practising it. Amid the fears of the spread of Coronavirus, 'Namaste' with its meaning and relevance has turned out to be the best option.

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The Dominican Republic joins 'Namaste' wagon 

The latest country to join the 'Namaste'-wagon is The Dominican Republic. The High Commission of the North American country based in Delhi took to twitter to advocate the Indian style. The office in India tweeted: ''Namaste goes global!
To stop the spread of the coronavirus, let us adopt the Indian way of greeting each other''.  

So far the country has recorded 5 cases of COVID-19 out of which 4 had a travel history to Italy and one to Canada. The country has cancelled all flights coming from Milan, Italy. They have released an advisory for those coming from other 'high risk' countries suggesting that passengers might be subjected to additional screening. Besides, cruises with potential COVID-19 cases have been instructed to look for a different docking destination as permission may be denied in the region.

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The diplomatic mission also released a statement for those visiting India promising them of every possible help. The statement read: ''In light of the global COVID-19 pandemic, the Dominican Republic Embassy would like to inform all its citizens based in India that their safety and well-being is of utmost importance and our primary focus. We are committed to ensuring the welfare and security of our people.'' The embassy has also put out an emergency number for issues related to Coronavirus. They could be reached on +919953170187.

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