Narendra Modi has crossed a historic digital milestone, surpassing 100 million followers on Instagram and becoming the first world leader and politician to achieve the feat.
PM Modi joined Instagram in 2014 and has steadily expanded his global digital footprint over the years. With this achievement, he now has more than double the follower count of Donald Trump, who ranks second among world leaders on the platform with 43.2 million followers.
Other prominent global leaders trail significantly behind. Prabowo Subianto has around 15 million followers, followed by Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva with 14.4 million, Recep Tayyip Erdogan with 11.6 million, and Javier Milei with 6.4 million. Notably, the combined follower base of these five leaders still does not surpass PM Modi’s individual tally.
Within India as well, PM Modi maintains a substantial lead over other political figures. Yogi Adityanath holds the second position domestically with approximately 16.1 million followers, while Rahul Gandhi follows with around 12.6 million.
The milestone underscores PM Modi’s strong social media presence and digital outreach strategy, which has played a central role in his communication with citizens and global audiences.
Meanwhile, the Prime Minister is on a two-day official visit to Israel. During the visit, the Knesset conferred upon him the “Speaker of the Knesset Medal,” its highest honour. The award recognised his exceptional personal leadership in strengthening strategic ties between India and Israel.
The medal was presented following his address to the Israeli Parliament, which received a standing ovation and repeated applause. After the speech, PM Modi interacted with members of the Knesset, with several lawmakers taking selfies and photographs with him.
In his address, he highlighted the deep historical and civilisational links between India and Israel, noting references to India as “Hodu” in the Book of Esther and mentions of ancient trade with India in the Talmud. He also spoke about India’s admiration for Israel’s determination, courage and achievements.
