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Air India ferries Swedish Royal couple after aircraft develops snag

INDIA’S national carrier Air India chipped in to ferry Swedish King Carl XVI Gustaf and Queen Silvia on their state visit to India when their aircraft developed a technical snag at the last minute.

The Royal couple, who are on their second five-day visit to India after 26 years, were scheduled to arrive here on their state aircraft.


However, they had to take a direct commercial flight of Air India from Stockholm to New Delhi Monday (2) morning.

"The reason for the change was that there was a technical problem with the state aircraft," a Swedish official told.

On arrival, they were greeted by the country manager of Air India Sangeeta Sanyal.

"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," Air India tweeted.

The couple were received at the airport by the Indian minister of state for environment, forests and climate change Babul Supriyo with Kathakali dancers and traditional drummers to welcome the dignitaries.

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  • Leo's 11-day Africa tour covers Algeria, Cameroon, Angola and Equatorial Guinea.
Pope Leo XIV landed in Algeria on Monday for the first ever papal visit to the Muslim-majority country, but the trip was immediately overshadowed by an extraordinary public row with US president Donald Trump.
Just hours before Leo left Rome, Trump posted a lengthy attack on Truth Social, calling the pontiff "WEAK on Crime, and terrible for Foreign Policy" and telling reporters: "I'm not a fan of Pope Leo."

The feud stems from Leo's growing criticism of the US-Israeli war with Iran. At an evening prayer vigil in St Peter's Basilica on Saturday, the same day US and Iranian delegations began face-to-face ceasefire talks in Pakistan, the pope said a "delusion of omnipotence" was fuelling global conflict and called on world leaders to sit at the table of dialogue rather than plan rearmament.

Trump took the remarks personally, saying the pope "thinks it's ok for Iran to have a nuclear weapon," a claim Leo never made.

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