Yesterday, Indian Twitter users noticed that the official account of the White House has unfollowed both the Indian President and the Prime Minister. The two moves launched a wave of speculations over the motive of the unfollows.
USA: White House unfollows Indian PM Modi and President Kovind on Twitter.
— Norbert Elekes (@NorbertElekes) April 29, 2020
They were the only world leaders who were followed by the White House handle.
Despite very positive vibes between the governments of both the US and India especially following the US President's official trip to India last February, the fact that the official White House twitter account unfollowed accounts of the two highest-ranking men in India sparked lots of controversies.
A short love story:
— Sudhir Loomba (@sudhirloomba97) April 29, 2020
1. 24th Feb: India spends 100 Cr to welcome Trump.
2. 10th April: White House follows PM Modi. Modia cheers the greatest leader of all time and the great fraands.
3 29th April: White House unfollows PM Modi.
4 Deafening silence.?#USCIRF #India #Modia pic.twitter.com/RJ2GfFYSt8
Some users linked this virtual move to news of a deal between the two countries in connection to the possibility of using an Indian-manufactured anti-malaria drug to treat the novel coronavirus two weeks ago.
They suggested that the inefficiency of the drug reported most recently may have initiated the White House to unfollow President Ram Nath Kovind and Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
2 weeks ago, a diplomatic victory was claimed as @whitehouse followed @narendramodi & several Indian accounts, post export of anti-malarial drugs
We tracked following behavior.
Now @narendramodi & rest have been unfollowed.
Do we get the drugs back, or was 2 weeks the deal? pic.twitter.com/SUyXyqGJyN— joyojeet pal (@joyopal) April 28, 2020
Reply to @WhiteHouse
— mohan (@mohan_garg) April 29, 2020
You unfollowed my Great Pm Modi . It’s your decision .. Our Pm is generous but sorry I m not . Bye Bye .
And yes future is ours .. you will come back !
Some Indian commentators noted that the importance of this Twitter shift stems from the fact that India's official media had widely celebrated news of the follows two weeks ago, hailing this as a huge diplomatic victory for India, as its two politicians were the only world leaders followed by the White House account.
Importantly, when the White House had followed Modi, Hiren Joshi had got similar headlines written in almost every publication- big diplomatic victory for India and only world leader to be followed. Now what?
— Rohini Singh (@rohini_sgh) April 29, 2020
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
Yet, a senior White House official told Indian media; the White House Twitter tool usually follows accounts of major politicians and US embassies in countries visited by the President. This is done in efforts to track relevant tweets and share them through US official platforms, explaining that unfollowing these accounts has only to do with the end of the visit and nothing more.
After unfollowing 6 Twitter handles, including Modi, Kovind, White House explains it 'briefly follows' accounts of host country during presidential visit
— Theblofaiz Digital Marketing (@theblofaiz) April 30, 2020
Washington: The White House on Wednesday explained that its Twitter handle typically 'follows' the … https://t.co/qNKYtq4aVo pic.twitter.com/zFniv2dDDO
