ABU DHABI // Indian prime minister Narendra Modi’s visit was documented across social media, including a selfie, reflecting a sign of the times.
Mr Modi posted a selfie on Twitter posing with Sheikh Nahyan bin Mubarak, Minister of Culture, Youth and Community Development, and Dr Anwar Gargash, Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, at the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque in the capital.
Dr Gargash retweeted the prime minister’s picture on his own account.
Updates were available on Mr Modi’s website and social media channels including Twitter and Facebook, in both English and Arabic.
“Hello UAE,” Mr Modi wrote on Twitter on Sunday, on which he has 14.4 million followers. “I am very optimistic about this visit. I am confident the outcomes of the visit will boost India-UAE ties.”
“Deeply grateful to [His Highness] Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan for the welcome and hospitality in Abu Dhabi,” he said.
A live video feed showing parts of Mr Modi's visit, including his arrival in Abu Dhabi, was available on his website, narendramodi.in.
UAE leaders also updated social media users, with the account of Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces, saying that the visit “reaffirms the strong, historic relations founded by Sheikh Zayed and maintained by Sheikh Khalifa”.
Social media is increasingly important in India, where most web traffic is accessed via mobile phones, according to We Are Social, a research group. Nine per cent of the country’s population is on social media, while those who use it average 2.5 hours using social networks, reports this year said.
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