Pictures of cute animals posing with famous personalities or portraits of oneself playing a musical instrument: you’d think this stream of photographs is from a self-indulgent buddy’s social media page.

But in fact, these are from Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s official Instagram account, the photo/video sharing social media platform –– on which he is now the third most popular leader.

According to ‘The World Leaders on Instagram Study,’ conducted by public relations and communications firm Burson-Marsteller, US President Barack Obama is the most popular world leader on Instagram with over six million followers on his Barack Obama campaign account.

Obama is followed by Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev, who has more than two million followers, and Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

As on February 17, Modi had posted 38 photos and had 1.9 million followers, while Obama had 206 posts and 6.2 million followers.

Based on data collected in February 2016, the study found that 136 of the 193 United Nations member-states maintain an official Instagram account.

“More than 70 per cent of governments worldwide have set up an official Instagram presence, but a third of the 305 accounts surveyed are dormant or inactive,” the study said.

Among other leaders, Queen Rania of Jordan and HH Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, the Emir of Dubai, have 1.4 million followers each. Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdoðan, Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, Argentinian President Mauricio Macri and Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi complete the top 10 list with more than half a million followers each.

Donald A Baer, Worldwide Chair and CEO of Burson-Marsteller, said: “While Instagram is a newer medium for world leaders compared to Facebook or Twitter, its emphasis on visual communication makes it a powerful channel for connecting with citizens.

Corporations, NGOs and other sectors can learn a great deal from the ways governments are using Instagram to build stronger relationships.”

Interestingly, Obama is also the most effective leader on Instagram, with more than 56,000 interactions (comments and likes) for every post. Modi, who joined the platform in November 2014, comes in second with 42,000 interactions per post, the study said.

The Instagram account of the Information Department of Brunei is the most active account, sharing on average more than four posts per day, it added.