When he travels to the U.S. later this month, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi will visit Facebook’s Silicon Valley headquarters, where he and Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg will lead a town-hall question-and-answer session. Zuckerberg announced the event in a Facebook post early Sunday morning.
“Prime Minister Modi and I will discuss how communities can work together to address social and economic challenges,” Zuckerberg wrote. “I had the chance to visit Prime Minister Modi in India last year and it’s an honor to have the chance to host him here at Facebook.”
In his own message on the site, Modi encouraged his 30 million followers to share their questions for the event on Facebook and the Narendra Modi Mobile App, a platform launched earlier this summer to keep the people abreast of the Prime Minister’s politics.
Modi has worked diligently to establish himself as a leader sensitive to the digital age’s standard of connectivity. He has nearly 15 million followers on Twitter — more than Kanye West and the NFL, though fewer than Britney Spears or Oprah Winfrey.
By Monday morning, Modi’s Facebook post about the event had been liked more than 74,000 times, with at least 2,000 people commenting to submit their own questions for the forum on Sept. 27. Some users wryly asked him to request that Zuckerberg get rid of notifications from game apps on the social network; some simply confessed their adoration for the Prime Minister, who was elected last May after serving for 12 years as the chief minister of the western state of Gujarat.
Some wanted to know if the government was doing anything to reduce pollution in the capital New Delhi, by some measures the world’s most polluted city, or why Modi was “promoting Hindi alone … [and not] all the [Indian] languages equally.”
On Sept. 28, the day after he visits Facebook, Modi will sit for his third bilateral summit with U.S. President Barack Obama in New York City. His agenda is otherwise laden with meetings with Silicon Valley heavyweights. He has already scheduled appointments at Google’s headquarters in Mountain View and the Tesla Factory in Fremont, the San Jose Mercury Newsreports.
India’s Elections: Snapshots From the World’s Biggest Vote
A Muslim voter waits in line to vote at a polling station on May 12, 2014 in Varanasi.Kevin Frayer—Getty ImagesA Muslim woman votes at a polling station on May 12, 2014 in Varanasi.Kevin Frayer—Getty ImagesSupporters of BJP leader Narendra Modi run as a helicopter carrying Modi takes off after a rally on May 10, 2014 in Robertsganj, near Varanasi.Kevin Frayer—Getty ImagesSupporters of the Congress Party stand in front of a poster showing Rahul Gandhi and his mother and party president Sonia Gandhi as they wait before a rally on May 10, 2014 in Varanasi.Kevin Frayer—Getty ImagesVeiled Muslim supporters of AAP leader Arvind Kejriwal wait for his convoy to pass during a rally by the leader on May 9, 2014 in Varanasi.Kevin Frayer—Getty ImagesSupporters run past a banner showing BJP leader Narendra Modi at a rally by the leader on May 8, 2014 in Rohaniya, near Varanasi.Kevin Frayer—Getty ImagesBJP leader Narendra Modi gestures to supporters while driving through the streets on May 8, 2014 in Varanasi.Kevin Frayer—Getty ImagesMuslim residents watch the convoy of BJP leader Narendra Modi as he drives in the street on May 8, 2014 in Varanasi.Kevin Frayer—Getty ImagesBJP leader Narendra Modi greets supporters as he is surrounded by bodyguards while driving through the streets on May 8, 2014 in Varanasi.Kevin Frayer—Getty ImagesSupporters of BJP leader Narendra Modi cheer during his speech at a rally by him on May 8, 2014 in Rohaniya, near Varanasi.Kevin Frayer—Getty ImagesBuddhist monks from the Drukpa lineage hold their voting cards as they wait outside a polling station to vote near the Hemis Monastery on May 7, 2014 in Hemis, Ladakh.Kevin Frayer—Getty ImagesLadkahis wait inside a polling station to vote near the Thiksey Monastery on May 7, 2014 in Thiksey, Ladakh.Kevin Frayer—Getty ImagesLadkahis wait outside a polling station to vote near the Thiksey Monastery on May 7, 2014 in Thiksey, Ladakh.Kevin Frayer—Getty ImagesSecurity force soldiers on election duty sit in a bus as they leave a central collection point to head for a polling station, on May 6, 2014 in Leh, Ladakh.Kevin Frayer—Getty ImagesSecurity force soldiers on election duty wait to leave a central collection point to head to secure polling stations, on May 6, 2014 in Leh, Ladakh.Kevin Frayer—Getty ImagesSupporters listen to a speech by BJP leader Narendra Modi at a rally on April 27, 2014 in Sidhuali near Lucknow.Kevin Frayer—Getty ImagesA disabled boy wears a mask of BJP leader Narendra Modi as he walks past a police checkpoint at a rally by Modi on April 25, 2014 in Bathinda, Punjab.Kevin Frayer—Getty ImagesSikh man wears a mask of BJP leader Narendra Modi as people crowd to hear his speech on April 25, 2014 in Bathinder, Punjab.Kevin Frayer—Getty ImagesTransgender Candidate Hijra Guru Baseer Kinnar aka Kamala Kinnar speaks to a resident while campaigning in a Muslim neighbourhood on April 23, 2014 in the Hindu holy city of Varanasi.Kevin Frayer—Getty ImagesAAP leader and anti-corruption activist Arvin Kejriwal is surrounded by police bodyguards as he greets supporters from an open jeep on his way to file his nomination papers on April 23, 2014 in Varanasi.Kevin Frayer—Getty ImagesSupporters of ruling Congress Party listen during a speech by leader Rahul Gandhi during a rally on April 20, 2014 in Mumbai,.Kevin Frayer—Getty ImagesA supporter of ruling Congress Party wears a mask of leader Rahul Gandhi during a rally on April 20, 2014 in Mumbai.Kevin Frayer—Getty ImagesWomen wait to vote at a polling station on April 17, 2014 in the Jodhpur District in the desert state of Rajasthan.Kevin Frayer—Getty ImagesWomen wait to vote at a polling station on April 17, 2014 in the Jodhpur District in the desert state of Rajasthan.Kevin Frayer—Getty ImagesA woman casts her ballot at a polling station on April 17, 2014 in the Jodhpur District in the desert state of Rajasthan.Kevin Frayer—Getty ImagesA woman casts her ballot at a polling station on April 17, 2014 in the Jodhpur District in the desert state of Rajasthan.Kevin Frayer—Getty ImagesIndian women arrive to vote at a polling station on April 17, 2014 in the Jodhpur District in the desert state of Rajasthan.Kevin Frayer—Getty ImagesA family listens as Rahul Gandhi, leader of India's ruling Congress Party speaks at a rally on April 6, 2014 in New Delhi.Kevin Frayer—Getty Images
