Assalamualaikum or Namaste.
Those two words have come up with different agreement among my both Muslim and Hindu Indian friends. The latter is, actually, universal greeting in India which is derived from Sanskrit meaning salutation to you, but Muslim people there tend to use the former which means peace be upon you. They are literally the same, but applied differently.
In additon, some of my friends who live in muslim countries, such as KSA or UAE recently told me that I might not say salaam in Hindi that is Namaste, rather in Arabic. I have no idea why they consider such words as having-different-function-theologically terms. In fact, I accustom to say both since I have Muslim and Hindu friends.
Finally, as it is our first introduction then it will be trigging up our sharing of knowledge if we say Assalamualaikum or Namaste.
Good night.
