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Prime Minister Narendra Modi did his reputation as a photographer and poser no harm by clicking a selfie with Chinese Premier Li Keqiang on Friday.
The photograph went live on the prime minister’s Facebook page around 4 pm (IST). Within an hour, it had more than a million “likes”, one of those from Facebook Chief Executive Officer Mark Zuckerberg. It was shared by 1,900 people.
The picture was taken in front of the Temple of Heaven in Beijing, where Modi went on Friday to see Indian and Chinese children perform yoga and taichi.
The selfie shows both Modi and Li flashing bright smiles.
Modi had the picture up on his Twitter account as well, with the caption: “It’s selfie time! Thanks Premier Li.”
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In a meta-photographic moment, Vikas Swarup, official spokesperson, Ministry of External Affairs, took two shots of Modi clicking the selfie.
He put the first one up on Twitter at around 3:30 pm, with the caption: “The ultimate selfie: PM @narendramodi with Premier Li at Temple of Heaven in Beijing.”
It's selfie time! Thanks Premier Li. pic.twitter.com/DSCTszSnq3
— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) May 15, 2015
The next one appeared on his Twitter account an hour later, with the caption: “Where selfies are concerned, there’s always scope for one more! PM @narendramodi with Premier Li, Temple of Heaven.”
Li, however, will not be able to see the picture on Facebook or Twitter, both of which are banned in China since 2009.
Analysts have claimed the ban could be traced to riots that broke out in July that year between Muslim Uighurs and Han Chinese in the restive western region of Xinjiang, where both sides had used the US social media sites to rally support.
Others claim China has banned these western social media sites to protect local ones like Weibo, which Modi joined before his China visit and on which he has become popular.
