By Vinai Venkatesham 
Responding to Modi calling him ‘Tulsi Bhai’, Tedros said, “I like the name Tulsi Bhai because Tulsi is a medicinal plant. I just planted Tulsi here in the Wellness Centre…”
NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday welcomed World Health Organisation Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus to India.
“My good friend Tulsi Bhai is clearly well prepared for Navratri! Welcome to India, @DrTedros!,” PM Modi wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter.
He reposted the Ayush ministry video in which Tedros could be seen performing Gujarat’s traditional dance dandiya.
Responding to Modi calling him ‘Tulsi Bhai’, Tedros said, “I like the name Tulsi Bhai because Tulsi is a medicinal plant. I just planted Tulsi here in the Wellness Centre… I’m really happy to do that because it has many benefits. I am happy to be called Tulsi Bhai,” after visiting a health and wellness centre in Gandhinagar.
The WHO chief was given the Gujarati name – Tulsi Bhai – by Modi at the Global AYUSH and Innovation Summit in Gandhinagar last year.
Ghebreyesus, who arrived in India on Wednesday, will be inaugurating the WHO-global summit on traditional medicine event in the presence of Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya and Ayush Minister Sarbananda Sonowal.
The meet is being organised jointly by the WHO and Ayush Ministry. It will be held on August 17 and 18 in Gandhinagar.
It will be held alongside the G20 health ministerial meeting to mobilise political commitment and evidence-based action on traditional medicine.
The event will be attended by G20 health ministers, WHO regional directors, and prominent invitees from countries across the UN health body’s six regions. Apart from this, scientists, traditional medicine practitioners, health workers, and civil society members will also attend the event.
According to the Union health ministry, international delegates have started arriving in Ahmedabad to attend the G20 health ministers’ meeting, starting from Thursday.