On Tuesday, former Congress President Rahul Gandhi took a jibe at the Prime Minister and his office as he brought the attention to the fact that the United States President Donald Trump unfollowed Narendra Modi.
The twitter handle of POTUS, the White House and the President Donald Trump unfollowed Prime Minister Modi, his office and the President Ramnath Kovind recently. Incidentally, the accounts were followed when India agreed to lift the export ban on the United States and graciously sent a massive consignment of Hydroxychloroquine drug that is believed to cure COVID-19. United States President Donald Trump had also said that the generous deed by the Prime Minister will not be forgotten and termed it to as closer cooperation between friends. The media reports earlier had claimed that Prime Minister Modi was the only global leader followed by Donald Trump and the White House.
When the news of the accounts being unfollowed by the White House surfaced, former Congress President Rahul Gandhi lashed onto the opportunity to say he is ‘dismayed’ by the gesture of the United States and even asked the Union Ministry of External Affairs to take note of it. However, it backfired for Gandhi when Twitter users bashed him for playing politics in the time of a pandemic.
I'm dismayed by the "unfollowing" of our President & PM by the White House. I urge the Ministry of External Affairs to take note.
— Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) April 29, 2020
White House Clarifies
During President Trump’s visit to India in the month of February, six Indian twitter handles were followed by the President and the White House. They were the accounts of President Ram Nath Kovind, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the Prime Minister’s office, the Indian Embassy in the United States, the United States embassy in India, and the United States Ambassador in India.
An official from the White House was asked during a press briefing about the fiasco of following and unfollowing of twitter handles. The official clarified the White House stance and explained how the official account of the White House functions by saying,
“The White House Twitter account normally follows senior US government Twitter accounts, and others as appropriate. For example, during the President’s visit, the account typically follows for a short time, the host country’s accounts to retweet their messages in support of the visit.”
Source: Free Press Journal
