Chinese mouthpiece incredulously touts PM Modi's Weibo popularity as India bans 59 apps

China's mouthpiece Global Times on Monday highlighted that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has a verified account on "China's Twitter-- Weibo". Taking to Twitter, the Global Times stated that PM Modi has over 240,000 followers on Weibo-- which is one of the banned apps in India. The tone of the Chinese 'Foreign Mission' media outlet has hints of incredulity that the government would take such a decision given PM Modi's own popularity on the platform.

The Prime Minister had opened an account on Weibo ahead of a visit to China in 2016.

Read: Govt of India bans 59 Chinese apps; Tik Tok, UC Browser, WeChat included in the list

India bans Chinese apps 

Amid the on-going India-China border tensions, the government of India on Monday banned 59 Chinese Apps including TikTok. According to the Centre, it received many complaints from various sources including several reports about the misuse of these apps for stealing and surreptitiously transmitting users’ data in an unauthorized manner to servers that have locations outside India. The government banned the apps in order to protect the sovereignty of Indian Cyberspace and to ensure the interests of crores of Indian mobile users. 

Read: 'India's arsenal not meant for hatching eggs': Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury insults forces

List of Chinese apps banned by the Centre

1. TikTok

2. Shareit

3. Kwai

4. UC Browser

5. Baidu map 

6. Shein 

7. Clash of Kings 

8. DU battery saver 

9. Helo 

10. Likee

11. YouCam makeup 

12. Mi Community 

13. CM Browers 

14. Virus Cleaner 

15. APUS Browser 

16. ROMWE 

17. Club Factory 

18. Newsdog 

19. Beutry Plus 

20. WeChat 

21. UC News 

22. QQ Mail 

23. Weibo 

24. Xender 

25. QQ Music 

26. QQ Newsfeed 

27. Bigo Live 

28. SelfieCity 

29. Mail Master 

30. Parallel Space

31. Mi Video Call – Xiaomi 

32. WeSync 

33. ES File Explorer 

34. Viva Video – QU Video Inc 

35. Meitu 

36. Vigo Video 

37. New Video Status 

38. DU Recorder 

39. Vault- Hide 

40. Cache Cleaner DU App studio 

41. DU Cleaner 

42. DU Browser 

43. Hago Play With New Friends 

44. Cam Scanner 

45. Clean Master – Cheetah Mobile 

46. Wonder Camera 

47. Photo Wonder 

48. QQ Player 

49. We Meet 

50. Sweet Selfie 

51. Baidu Translate 

52. Vmate 

53. QQ International 

54. QQ Security Center 

55. QQ Launcher 

56. U Video 

57. V fly Status Video 

58. Mobile Legends 

59. DU Privacy

Read: 'India's arsenal not meant for hatching eggs': Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury insults forces

Read: 'Befitting reply given in Ladakh': PM Modi fires strong statement on China in Mann Ki Baat