All In a Salute!

NEW DELHI: There is obviously a great deal in a salute. More so, in the salute of a country’s armed forces, and the heads of government and/or state. So it was a surprise to see Prime Minister Narendra Modi adopting the American salute with palm turned downwards, while paying tribute to the soldiers killed during the 1965 war, at the Amar Jawan Jyoti.

PM Modi who has in the past saluted as per the norm set by the Indian defence forces, with the palm almost flat against the forehead (look at the photographs below) seems to have changed his style completely, adopting the salute of the US military. But then he can as well argue that the salute is from the Indian Navy that, as per the old military practice, follows what is now the American military salute.

Clearly military protocol has not briefed the Prime Minister that there is more to a salute than just a salute, and the President of India and the PM generally follow the flat palm facing outwards, salute.

The Indian military follows the British guidelines, where the Navy salute also differed from the other two defence forces. As the story goes the British Naval salute, followed of course by the Indian navy as well in good tradition, was decreed by Queen Victoria after she was saluted by a naval sailor with a dirty palm. She said that in future all sailors would salute palm down. The dirty palm was a result of the tar and pitch used to seal a ships timbers from the sea water, and officers aboard wore white gloves to cover their hands.