Seven years after he enthralled his audience in Japan, Prime Minister Narendra Modi played a drum on yet another foreign tour, in Glasgow, the Scottish city where the United Nations climate summit is underway. PM Modi was in Glasgow to attend the climate summit, COP26. COP stands for the Conference of the Parties that meets annually to take policy decisions to combat global warming and climate change.

During his three-day visit, PM Modi addressed the COP, held bilateral meetings and also met the Indian diaspora, who gave him a welcome that is usually seen with the movie stars. PM Modi interacted with them, signed autographs for children, and also played the drum with orange waistcoat-wearing upbeat artists.

In a reciprocal gesture, PM Modi showed his drumming skills matching the beat with the drummer artists. A video clip of the same has gone viral on social media, presenting a different side of the prime minister.

On one occasion, PM Modi was seen in the middle of children, who jostled against one-another to get his autograph. PM Modi obliged them all signing autographs on their palms and notepads.

On his arrival in the UK, PM Modi was greeted with a song composed in his praise. Its lyrics went like this: Modi hai Bharat ka gehna (Modi is the jewel of India)… This was a reflection of his popularity among Non-resident Indians (NRIs).

Incidentally, during this tour, another video clip went viral on social media. In this clip, Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett told PM Modi that he was the most popular leader in his country. He jokingly invited PM Modi to join his party.

PM Modi arrived in Glasgow, UK, on Sunday for the COP26 climate summit. He held bilateral talks with his British counterpart Boris Johnson on the sidelines of the United Nations (UN) meet.

PM Modi left for India on Tuesday. He wrote on Twitter, “Departing from Glasgow after two days of intense discussions about the future of our planet. India has not only exceeded the Paris commitments but has now also set an ambitious agenda for the next 50 years.”

“It was wonderful to see many old friends in person after a long time and meet some new ones. I am thankful to our host PM Boris Johnson and also to the Scottish people for their warm hospitality in the beautiful Glasgow,” he said in another tweet.

In his address to the COP26, PM Modi said India would become a carbon-neutral country by 2070. He also appealed to the developed world to contribute more towards climate finance to help the poor countries tackle the challenges posed by global warming and climate change.