‘It was German mishap’: Envoy on protocol row over Foreign Minister’s visit

German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock’s plane landed early in Delhi and she was asked to stay on the plane for a while but decided to leave without receiving a line, which was entirely a German problem, Philipp Ackermann said

Amid the protocol-related controversy on social media, the German Ambassador to India, Philipp Ackermann, on Monday said German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock’s plane landed early in Delhi.

She was asked to stay on the plane for a while but decided to leave without receiving a line, which was entirely a German problem, Mr. Ackermann told ANI on Monday.

Further, on the row over social media posts alleging some protocol issue with the German Foreign Minister, Mr. Ackermann, who is also the Germany envoy to Bhutan, clarified that the Minister's plane landed a little early in Delhi, adding that she was, in fact, one of the first ministers to land in the national capital on Thursday for the G20 Foreign Ministers' meeting.

"We had to transfer her to the conference centre and she was a little early so the German authorities asked her to wait on the plane for a while," the German ambassador informed, adding that she agreed to stay in the aircraft.

"She had some breakfast and then spontaneously decided to leave the plane without the receiving line being formed. But that was an entire German problem," the German ambassador said.

"It has nothing to do with Indian protocol. I can only say again and again the Indian protocol has done outstanding work this week. It is really, really more than anything I've seen in a protocol in my life. And they did that very graciously. Fantastically," he said of the hospitality accorded to the German Minister.

"The Minister came out of the plane. You've seen it on the little video on social media, she laughed, she had a great time, she thought to herself it was quite funny and we had a very nice welcome. And she's not a very pretentious person, so she had no problem with this little mishap," the envoy added. "That was an entire German mishap and has nothing to do with Indian protocol," he said.