White House unfollows Indian PM Modi on Twitter, reports say
The White House unfollowed Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and several other high-profile Indian accounts on Twitter on Wednesday, not explained what was the reason.
Modi was the only world leader who was followed by the White House on Twitter. Other Indian Twitter accounts that have been unfollowed include the Indian President, the Indian Prime Minister's Office, and the Indian Embassy in Washington DC.
The move 'dismayed' Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, who appealed to the Indian Foreign Ministry to take notice of the incident.
"I'm dismayed by the "unfollowing" of our President & PM by the White House. I urge the Ministry of External Affairs to take note," tweeted Gandhi.
The development comes a day after a US commission recommended that India be added to the list of countries violating religious freedom.
The US Commission on International Religious Freedom recommended that India be again considered a country of particular concern because of the Modi government's policies and treatment of the Muslim population.
The USCIRF vice-president said after the release of the commission's annual report that "Perhaps the steepest, and most alarming deterioration in religious freedom conditions is in India."
The report also recommended that 13 other countries to be ranked by the State Department as "countries of particular concern" because their governments were involved in or tolerated "systematic, ongoing, egregious violations of religious freedom."
These include nine nominated by the State Department in December last year, namely Burma, China, Eritrea, Iran, North Korea, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Tajikistan and Turkmenistan. The other five include India, Nigeria, Russia, Syria, and Vietnam.
Earlier this month, US President Donald Trump warned India of "retaliation" following New Delhi's decision to ban the export of hydroxychloroquine, which is believed to be crucial in fighting the coronavirus pandemic.
Shortly afterwards, the Indian government decided to partially ease the ban and allow the drug to be exported to the United States. The US President then tweet a note thanking the Indian Prime Minister.
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