India on top 10 ranking of global digital diplomacy: Diplomacy Live

NEW DELHI: India has been ranked in the top 10 nations in terms of its digital diplomacy performance over the last year by Diplomacy Live, a global research, advocacy, consulting and training platform.

India and Mexico are the only two countries from the developing world in this list. India’s high ranking is despite a relatively modest budget for public diplomacy. The MEA's Official Facebook page, with more than 1.2 million followers is second only to that of the US State Department amongst Foreign Ministries (excluding its companion page ‘Indian Diplomacy’ which alone has some 850,000 followers).

On Twitter, the Indian Foreign Ministry's combined presence – the Official Spokesperson’s account plus the Public Diplomacy account – has crossed 1.2 million. On Youtube, with 40,000 subscribers and 30 million minutes viewed, the Ministry’s video content has truly gone viral. MEA is also available on G+, Flickr, Instagram, and Soundcloud platforms. These combined platforms have a followership in excess of 4 million and an average monthly reach in excess of 20 million. The MEA also has a unique Mobile App, which has garnered more than a 150,000 downloads on Android and iOS platforms, and which is now being revamped to accommodate new technologies.

In addition to digital diplomacy at headquarters, India’s Missions and Posts have increasingly embraced the use of social media.

With support from MEA, more than 95% of Indian Missions and Posts are now available on Facebook and 60% on Twitter. Their online presence plays a critical role in many crisis situations and was instrumental during recent evacuation efforts from Yemen, Libya and during the earthquake in Nepal.