International politics is a game of subtle gestures. One such gesture was shown by the United States as the White House, and President Trump’s official and personal Twitter accounts have now unfollowed Indian Prime Minister, Narendra Modi after following him briefly.
The Twitter users were quick to notice an increase in the number of people that the White House followed on the microblogging platform.
The number is now back to 13 from 19 after the White House’s Twitter handle unfollowed Indian accounts including Narendra Modi, Indian Prime Minister’s Office, the President of India, US Ambassador to India, Ken Juster, the Indian Embassy in Washington, and the US Embassy in India.
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As per the reports, the development came following a panel’s recommendation to put India on religious freedom blacklist for its discriminatory behavior against the Muslims.
Earlier, these high-profile accounts followed Indian accounts as President Trump called on PM Modi to lift the ban on the export of Hydroxychloroquine considering India is one of the largest manufacturers of the drug which was termed by Trump as miraculous in the fight against Covid-19.
After India lifted the ban to please Donald Trump, the US President said “extraordinary times require even closer cooperation between friends”, adding that PM Modi’s role in the fight against the novel coronavirus will not be forgotten.
White House’s Explanation
The White House has explained that its Twitter handle only follows accounts from host countries for a short period to retweet messages of Donald Trump’s visit. He visited India in February, which is why the White House started following the aforementioned 6 accounts.
A Trump Administration’s official disclosed this on condition of anonymity.
The White House Twitter account normally follows senior US government Twitter accounts, and others as appropriate. For example, during the time of a presidential visit, the account typically follows for a short time, the host country’s officials to retweet their messages in support of the visit.
What are your thoughts on the story? Let us know in the comments.
It serves Modi right. Those photos shown around the world of Modi kissing Trump’s hands and hugging him as though he was a long lost brother were just cringeworthy. I’ve never seen Modi greet any other leader like that?
Down with Trump/Modi/Israel.