PM Modi, German Chancellor inaugurate Ahmedabad International Kite Festival

A pennant reading Operation Sindoor, a giant Hanuman with his mace, the tricolour, and myriad other kites floated against a cloudless blue sky as politics, diplomacy, and festivity blended at the Ahmedabad International Kite Festival on Monday. 

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz inaugurated the 2026 edition of the festival at the Sabarmati Riverfront.

The sky became a canvas of colours, with kites of various shapes and sizes fluttering in the breeze. Modi and Merz interacted with women



artisans, observing the kite-making process, before taking a ride in an open vehicle and trying their hands at flying kites.

Messages like Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam (the world is one family), INDIA, and expressions of affection for the Prime Minister decorated strings of kites, while above them, others bore the hashtag #GUJARAT IKF2026, Har Har Modi, Ghar Ghar Modi, Atmanirbhar Bharat, and I Love Modi. In a scene that captured the crowd’s heart, the two leaders stood side by side, manoeuvring strings to keep their kites steady against the river breeze.