King Carl XVI Gustaf and Queen Silvia of Sweden, who are on a five-day visit to India, have impressed netizens in the country, as they were photographed carrying their own luggage.
The king and queen arrived in a direct commercial flight of Air India from Stockholm to New Delhi Monday morning. The images of the Royal couple carrying their bags after disembarking the aircraft immediately went viral with Twitterati drawing parallels with VIP culture in India.
The couple were received at the airport by Minister of State for Environment, Forests and Climate Change Babul Supriyo with Kathakali dancers and traditional drummers to welcome the dignitaries.
Announcing their arrival, Air India had tweeted: "Very Proud moment of Air India when we had a Special Guest onboard. His Majesty Carl Gustaf Folke Hubertus , King of Sweden and Her Majesty Silvia Renate Sommerlath travelled AI168 Stockholm to Delhi. Sangeeta Sanyal Country Manager Sweden greeted the Royal guests."
"Wow carrying his own luggage. No vip business. When do we learn from them and shed the babu culture," wrote one user.
"Kings & queens in civilised constituional monarchies have less royal paraphernalia than elected PMs in many democratic republics," wrote another.
Taking a dig at PM Narendra Modi and his foreign travels, another wrote: An expenditure of over Rs 2,021 crore was incurred , during @narendramodi 's visits to foreign countries since June 2014. Why does our @PMOIndia use private ✈ on foreign tours? Are @PMOIndia visits to foreign countries with private ✈is benefit for India?