Modi hails social media power

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has hailed the political power of social media, as he visited the headquarters of Facebook in California.

"To leaders all over the world: you are not going to gain by running away from social media," he said in Hindi during a question-and-answer session.

Facebook boss Mark Zuckerberg moderated the hour-long event. Later on Sunday, Modi was welcomed by more than 20,000 people at a stadium in nearby San Jose.

The SAP Center event also drew protesters against Modi's human rights records among other issues.

Speaking at Facebook's campus in Menlo Park, Modi said: "The strength of social media today is that it can tell governments where they are wrong and can stop them from moving in the wrong direction."

"We used to have elections every five years and now we can have them every five minutes," he added. Modi, 65, regularly uses both Facebook and Twitter to communicate with millions of his followers.

Both Zuckerberg and Modi shared emotional moments during the discussion. After Zuckerberg pointed out his parents in the audience, Modi welled with tears speaking about his own.

He recounted stories from his childhood in a poor family, selling tea at a railway station and doing hard chores to earn money.