The reason why White House 'unfollowed' PM Modi, Prez Kovind on Twitter

The White House Twitter handle had started 'following' the accounts of PM Modi and President Kovind during Trump's visit to India in February this year

The White House has explained that its Twitter handle typically 'follows' the accounts of officials from host countries for a brief period during a presidential trip to retweet their messages in support of the visit.

During President Donald Trump's visit to India in the last week of February, the official Twitter handle of the White House -- @WhiteHouse -- had started 'following' the accounts of President Ram Nath Kovind, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the Prime Minister's office, the Indian Embassy in the US, the US Embassy in India and the US Ambassador to India, Ken Juster.

Early this week, the White House 'unfollowed' all these six Twitter handles.

"The White House Twitter account normally follows senior US government Twitter accounts, and others as appropriate. For example, during the time of a presidential visit, the account typically follows for a short time, the host country's officials to retweet their messages in support of the visit," a senior administration official told PTI on the condition of anonymity.

After the reports surfaced, former Congress President Rahul Gandhi had asked the External Affairs Ministry to take note of it.

"I'm dismayed by the "unfollowing" of our President and PM by the White House. I urge the Ministry of External Affairs to take note," he said in a tweet.