The world is bracing itself for a paradigm shift in the geopolitical landscape. India and the USA under Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Donald Trump have been seemingly getting closer and hitting it off everywhere. In another seal of approval for the growing ties between the two nations which is surely bound to transcend Modi and Trump both, the White House Twitter account on Thursday followed the personal account of Prime Minister Modi, making him the first international leader to be followed by the White House.
The White House – the office of the President of the United States and its Twitter handle follows only 19 others, 16 of which are from the United States. But now it follows President Ram Nath Kovind, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and Prime Minister’s Office on Twitter making them the first non-Americans to be followed by the White House Twitter account. The term ‘White House’ is often used interchangeably for the president and his advisers.
https://twitter.com/shubh19822/status/1248515703625285633
Interestingly, two other accounts followed by the White House are the US Embassy in India and the official account of Indian Embassy in Washington. Nestled in between, is Ken Juster, the US Ambassador to India.
The move is a huge endorsement for Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s leadership and goodwill whilst simultaneously being a massive soft-diplomacy win. Especially in the backdrop of India providing USA with the Hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) medicine which is being touted as a game-changer by President Trump.
While countries are struggling to help each other, stopping the exports of medicines and other reliefs, India has stepped up and assumed the role of a world-leader. It has provided medicine to arguably the most powerful country which is going through a torrid time. The total number of infected patients has reached 468,895 with over 16,000 deaths in the states, second highest in the world.
After India announced the aid, President Trump tweeted a heartfelt message to Prime Minister saying his contribution to the US would not be forgotten. “I want to thank Prime Minister Modi of India for allowing us to have what we requested for the problem arose and he was terrific. We will remember it,” Trump even told reporters at his daily White House news conference on Wuhan virus.
Fully agree with you President @realDonaldTrump. Times like these bring friends closer. The India-US partnership is stronger than ever.
India shall do everything possible to help humanity's fight against COVID-19.
We shall win this together. https://t.co/0U2xsZNexE
— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) April 9, 2020
Apart from USA, India has also helped Spain, Brazil, Sri Lanka and many other countries as a part of its humanitarian aid. The White House following PM Modi in the larger scheme of things is a massive development and it augurs well for the ties between the two nations which have reached a new threshold. The post COVID-19 world will be an entirely new landscape and India has asserted that it has what it takes to lead the whole world together as a unit.
