TIME’s Most Influential People: Modi

Prestigious TIME Magazine has described Prime Minister Narendra Modi as the most influential people on the Internet.

TIME magazine describing him as the Indian leader as an “Internet star” who often uses social media to “conduct diplomacy”.

The magazine cited Modi’s unconventional announcement on Twitter of his visit to Pakistan last year while naming him among ‘The 30 Most Influential People on the Internet’ for the second year in a row in this year’s unranked list.

The list includes US presidential hopeful Donald Trump, reality TV star Kim Kardashian and her husband Kayne West, author J K Rowling, former Olympic athlete Caitlyn Jenner and soccer star Cristiano Ronaldo.

For its second annual roundup of the most influential people on the Internet, TIME said it looked at the contenders’ global impact on social media and their overall ability to drive news.

On Modi, TIME said the leader of the world’s largest democracy is also an “Internet star”, boasting more than 18 million Twitter followers and over 32 million Facebook likes.

It also cited Modi’s use of social media to break news and conduct diplomacy.

Last year, Modi was named by TIME among the 100 most influential people in the world in its annual list, with US President Barack Obama penning a flattering profile of him.

This year’s list also includes Indo-Canadian vlogger Lilly Singh, who TIME said is rapidly becoming one of the biggest stars on YouTube, both on and off-screen.