As US President Barack Obama landed in India, Prime Minister Modi broke protocol to meet him at the Palam airport. Modi then shook the US President’s hand for a long time and then hugged him warmly before leaving for the Rashtrapati Bhavan. Obama told CNN IBN that he was honoured to be back in India and humbled by the warm reception. However, it was not just Modi’s entourage who were working overtime to make the US president feel welcome. On Twitter India, Obama’s visit dominated most conversations with several hashtags pertaining to the visit trending in the top ten slots.
As this article was being typed, at least five of ten top trends on Twitter had to do with his visit. The top trend was #NamasteObama, followed by #ObamaInIndia. Before #NamasteObama became the top trend, #NamastePOTUS dominated the top slot. ‘Welcome to India’ too remained a top trend in the first half of the day.
Apart from that, the various places Obama visited started trending on Twitter. Early in the morning, Palam Airport was one of the top trending tags as it witnessed Obama and Modi engage in a bear hug.
Obama’s vehicle, ‘The Beast’ also featured in the top trends. Rajghat, Guard of Honour, Rashtrapati Bhavan, all made it to the top trends list.
Following are some of the tweets from the top trends:
Unbelievable this pic reached 1lakh likes in less than 10mins in the speed of 10,000likes per minute Welcome To India pic.twitter.com/XlNy4qGI9G
— Gowtham (klawmination is upon us) (@Destinys_Eye) January 25, 2015
Obama to Namo:
— Sнєяlock Wayne (@CuckinFrazy) January 25, 2015
' I wanna go to the L
*govt starts cleaning Lucknow,Ludhiana etc*
oo .wanna take a leak..where is the loo?'
Welcome to India
Dear Barack Obama.
— asanyfuleknow (@asanyfuleknow) January 24, 2015
Welcome to India.
Please be advised-some if us have a life, things to do, travel schedules.
Please do not disrupt them.
Haha! Let's hope some of those are permanent fixtures. RT @TusharG: Welcome to India President Obama, wish you were a less demanding guest.
— Nakul Shenoy (@nakulshenoy) January 24, 2015
Prime Minister @narendramodi happily hugs the leader of the country that denied him a visa till he became PM. #NamastePOTUS
— Madhu Menon (@madmanweb) January 25, 2015
Welcome #NamasteObama #NamastePOTUS
— Cold Brew ☕️ (@ManojG7) January 25, 2015
Come & Have a makeover pic.twitter.com/eQJTyw4Jqi
Lotus welcomes POTUS #NamastePOTUS
— Sumeet Chatterjee (@SumChatter) January 25, 2015
Arre. It's OK yaar. It's survived 300+ years. Taj Mahal will survive this broken heart also. #NamastePOTUS
— Villainiya (@DushtaStree) January 24, 2015