What Modi discussed with Facebook COO

With the government using social media like never before, Prime Minister Narendra Modi told Facebook Chief Operating Officer Sheryl Sandberg that direct communication with people is critical for governance.

The Prime Minister said on his Facebook page that he had a very fruitful meeting with Sandberg, who called on Modi to discuss her ideas about connectivity.

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Modi, describing himself as an avid user of social media, said on his page that "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."

Sandberg is on her first visit to India after becoming COO of the world's most popular social networking site.

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"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," she wrote on her Facebook page after the meeting.

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Digital diplomacy can change national and international dialogues and that is why Modi "plans to champion the free and open Internet on the world stage," she wrote in her post.

Sandberg, who is on a five-day visit, met Modi along with Facebook's Global Public Policy Vice President Marne Levine and India Head of Public Policy Ankhi Das.

She had visited India in 1991 as part of a World Bank health initiative and said it was "special" to be back here. 

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During her visit, she met small and medium enterprises and large businesses to discuss opportunities to leverage Facebook as an important business tool.

"India is important to the global economy, as well as to Facebook, and we look forward to working together on internet.org to bring the next billion people online," she said.

Sandberg added that access to the Internet would create more economic, social and political opportunities for the people of India.

Sandberg later called on Communications and IT Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad to discuss collaborative efforts between the government and the world's largest social network in areas of education, e-governance and healthcare. 

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Facebook, she said, was excited by the role it played in the Lok Sabha elections.

"We are committed to working closely with the government to bring benefits like connectivity to people. We want to work together in areas like e-governance, education to connect people and the world," she told reporters here after the meeting.

Prasad said the government has requested for a structured request on how both parties can engage in these areas.

"PM is a great supporter of new media... We wish to work together closely as there is an enormous scope of expansion," Prasad said. 

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