New Delhi: Papua New Guinea Prime Minister James Marape appears to have created a Twitter account only “to thank the Prime Minister of India Shri Narendra Modi” for his visit to the island nation. The unverified handle of the PNG PM followed only PM Modi at the time of writing.
Within hours of opening the account, Marape has gained around 2,000 followers, including ex-Australia PM Tony Abbott and US-based defence analyst Derek Grossman.
In one of his first posts, Marape wrote: "Today I created my account on Twitter to thank the Prime Minister of India Shri Narendra Modi ji very much for coming to a small country like Papua New Guinea."
Notably, he has a verified Facebook page. However, he hasn’t posted anything there for some time.
The new Twitter handle mentioned this in one of the posts. “ The Prime Minister of India Shri Narendra Modi ji is much older than us, respectable. So we greeted him by touching his feet,” the post read.
PM Modi received a "special welcome" ceremony upon his arrival in Papua New Guinea on May 21, with the leader of the Pacific Island country touching his feet to seek his blessings.
After concluding his Papua New Guinea visit, PM Modi took to Twitter and wrote, "My Papua New Guinea visit has been a historic one. I will greatly cherish the affection received among the people of this wonderful nation. I also had the opportunity to interact with respected FIPIC leaders and discuss ways to deepen ties with their respective nations."
PM Modi arrived in Australia on Monday, the last leg of his three-nation visit tour. In Australia, he will hold talks with his Australian counterpart Anthony Albanese and attend a community event to celebrate the country's dynamic, diverse Indian diaspora.