Riyadh [Saudi Arabia], December 4 : Three-time Grammy Award-winning musician Ricky Kej recently met French President Emmanuel Macron at a lunch organized in his honour in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. He opened up about his meeting with him and clicked a selfie with the French President.
In a conversation with ANI, Kej shared, " I'm very honoured to be a goodwill ambassador with the United Nations, in particular with the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD), So the UNCCD is organizing their COP16, that is the Conference of Parties 16 in Saudi Arabia this year. I'm currently in Saudi Arabia to attend that conference and also to film a music video and documentary about land degradation and land desertification and create awareness of all the problems that we are facing when it comes to the environment."
He continued, "I'm in Riyadh for the formal events of the COP16 and President Macron is also in town now. I reached out to him and he invited me for lunch."
While recalling his meeting with the French President, he added, "We both hugged each other, and the lunch was beautifully organized by the Saudi government, and also President Macron introduced me to the honourable Minister of Culture for Saudi Arabia His Highness Prince Badr bin Abdullah bin Farhan Al Saud and we discussed ways to collaborate between India and Saudi Arabia through music and our ancient cultures, and we came up with some ideas. During the lunch, President Macron, me and Prince Badr bin Abdullah bin Farhan Al Saud, the three of us took a selfie together, in fact, President Macron took the selfie with my phone."

He also expressed his gratitude towards Prime Minister Narendra Modi for making India "visible on the global map".
"The person who I would like to thank the most is our dear Prime Minister, Narendra Modi ji, simply because he has made India visible on the world map. Previously, India was always considered to be on the sidelines. India would not partake in any kind of intergovernmental decisions. But right now, India is not only participating in these intergovernmental bodies and decisions, but they are taking leadership. India is looked upon as being a leader of the Global South, and it's all because of Prime Minister Narendra Modi ji, and because of this visibility that India has got on the world stage, and the newfound respect that the world has for India's power, India's might, and also India's soft power, India's culture, India's traditions, that trickles down to artists like me, where people want to collaborate with artists like me," said the musician.
He added that because of the contribution of PM Modi, Indian artists are gaining prominence globally. "People want to know more about our art. People want to know more about our musical traditions and that is the reason why we see our traditional musicians, our classical musicians, and our folk musicians, travelling all over the world like never before. We are performing in venues and doing large concerts like never before, simply because of how visible India is. All of this is due to our honourable Prime Minister, Narendra Modi ji, and I will always be grateful to him for giving this push to everything that is Indian, showcasing India in the most beautiful way in this world, and encouraging us to do the same."
Taking to X, Ricky Kej posted the picture and updated his fans about the meeting. He wrote, "Wow! What a day. Met my friend, someone I have absolute respect for - President @EmmanuelMacron at a lunch organized in his honor in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia (The last time we met was at the dinner he hosted for our very own Prime Minister @narendramodi ji). I also had the honor to meet His Highness Prince @BadrFAlSaud, with whom I had a fantastic meeting about musical collaborations between our 2 great nations. Here is a selfie we took together :-) I congratulated President @EmmanuelMacron on a fantastic Olympics and how he is leveraging on arts to bring the world together, and build a more compassionate future. He is just awesome :-)"
https://x.com/rickykej/status/1864163341121233130
Last year, Ricky Kej attended the banquet dinner that French President Emmanuel Macron hosted in honour of Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the Louvre Museum in France.
Taking to X, Ricky shared a couple of selfies from the event and wrote, "Wow! Our Hon'ble Prime minister @narendramodi ji, you constantly make all us Indians proud! Attended the official dinner in honor of PM Modiji at the @MuseeLouvre hosted by the suave & gracious President of France @EmmanuelMacron. The last leader hosted at the Lovre was Queen Elizabeth II in 1957!! A huge honor to be seated with the 2 world leaders and dine with them. The world is indeed in great hands. Bright future ahead."
In the first picture, he could be seen at the dining table with both PM Modi and President Macron. In another post, he shared a selfie with PM Modi.