Indian Prime Minister, Mr. Narendra Modi, met with Facebook's Chief Operating Officer (COO), Sheryl Sandberg, and said that co-operation with the social media will improve the country's tourism and better the communication between the government and people.
On Thursday, July 3, Modi met Sandberg and both of them updated their Facebook page, posting group pictures and discussion points.
"Had a very fruitful meeting with Sheryl Sandberg. She pointed out that India is a very important country for Facebook, considering the high number of active Facebook users in India," says Modi on his Facebook page. "Being an avid user of social media myself, I talked about ways through which a platform such as Facebook can be used for governance and better interaction between the people and governments. I also talked about how Facebook can be used to bring more tourists to India."
Sandberg, who joined as the COO of Facebook in August 2013, says that it was a privilege for her and her colleague to meet Modi. Sandberg also expresses her personal appreciation to Modi for making education for girls and women a priority in the country.
"We were glad to be able to congratulate him on his election, and on his unprecedented use of Facebook to connect with voters. He told us how he believes that direct communication with people all over the world is critical to effective governance and he plans to continue using Facebook and other social media to communicate with the people of India and the world," says Sandberg on her Facebook page.
Internet usage is expanding at an extensive rate in India and Sandberg said that more Internet access may create even higher social, economic and political opportunities for the people living in the country.
Sandberg is in India on a short five-day tour and met several small, medium and large business enterprises in the country to discuss prospects and take advantage of Facebook as one of the key business tools. Sandberg also met Mr. Ravi Shankar Prasad, who is the Communications and IT Minister of India.
Prasad highlighted that there are around 100 million Facebook users in India and the country is of strategic importance to the social media website. Prasad also discussed social harmony, more local content and Facebook in various Indian languages.
Modi won the election and took his Prime Minister position in May this year. Modi took advantage of social media in his election campaign. After coming into power, Modi also instructed all the union ministries as well as government departments in India to enrich their social media presence. Modi is also said to be observing what people are saying about him and his government on social media websites such as Facebook and Twitter.
Modi posts messages on social media websites on a regular basis. He has over 5 million followers and has also become the fourth most followed world leader on Twitter. Modi also has around 19 million Facebook likes.
