Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg met Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday and discussed ways in which the social networking platform can be used to connect the Government with people.
"Had a very fruitful meeting with Sheryl Sandberg. She pointed out that India is a very important country for Facebook, considering the high number of active Facebook users in India," Modi wrote in a Facebook post after the meeting.
"Being an avid user of social media myself, I talked about ways through which a platform such as Facebook can be used for governance and better interaction between the people and governments. I also talked about how Facebook can be used to bring more tourists to India." he said.
Modi said that there was an intent to commemorate Mahatma Gandhi’s 150th birth anniversary year with a special focus on cleanliness and he spoke to Sandberg on how Facebook can assist in this endeavour.
During the meeting Sandberg expressed appreciation to Modi for making the education of girls and women a priority, as equal opportunity is essential for strengthening all economies and creating a just world.
"We were glad to be able to congratulate him on his election, and on his unprecedented use of Facebook to connect with voters. He told us how he believes that direct communication with people all over the world is critical to effective governance and he plans to continue using Facebook and other social media to communicate with the people of India and the world. Digital diplomacy can change our national and international dialogues and that is why he plans to champion the free and open internet on the world stage," Sandberg wrote in a post.