Indian-origin student tweets to success

It took just a simple tweet from an Indian-origin student to impress British Foreign Secretary William Hague.

Gopal Rao, an MBA student at the University of Cambridge, answered a question posed by Hague to win the UK Twitter prize, according to a report in Digital By Default News.

Hague marked his 200,000th follower on Twitter by asking his followers to tweet the answer to this question: "What do you think is the biggest contribution UK foreign policy can make to the world?"

The winning entry was from Gopal Rao (@gopalisation), who answered: "UK foreign policy should focus on emancipation of #girlsandwomen through enterprise, supported by vibrant #socent culture within UK. #meetFS\\\\\\\\"

The prize was to meet the foreign secretary and live tweet an event. Gopal met Hague Wednesday and discussed the 'Preventing Sexual Violence in Conflict' initiative.

Speaking after the meeting, Hague said: "Thank you to Gopal for coming in to the Foreign Office today, and for the good discussion we had about preventing sexual violence in conflict. Through social media politicians have opportunities to engage a wider group of people than ever before, and this was a perfect example of the value of this."

After the meeting, Gopal sat in on a part of the 'Preventing Sexual Violence in Conflict' board meeting.

"Seeing the passion and dedication both of the foreign secretary and his team was incredible. The building is imposing but the people I met in the FCO (Foreign and Commonwealth Office) are friendly and welcoming. I hope digital diplomacy reaps rewards," Gopal was quoted as saying.

Hague is not the only minister interacting with citizens on Twitter. FCO Minister Hugo Swire has used the social media tool to answer the people's questions on his visit to Myanmar, as well as on the Commonwealth.