"This is an inspiring start..." HD Deve Gowda tweeted, sharing PM Modi's video of plogging.

Former Prime Minister and Janata Dal (Secular) chief HD Deve Gowda had some words of appreciation for Prime Minister Narendra Modi who went plogging on a beach in Tamil Nadu's Mamallapuram on Saturday, ahead of his second round of informal talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping.

"I saw the video of @narendramodi plogging barefoot at a beach in Mamallapuram, TN. This is an inspiring start to traverse towards a plastic-free India," Mr Gowda tweeted on Saturday, sharing the video of PM Modi picking up litter from a beach.

The post from Mr Gowda, who has been openly critical of the BJP and PM Modi in the past, comes days after an exchange between the two leaders on Twitter about Mr Gowda's visit to the Statue of Unity in Gujarat.

I saw the video of @narendramodi plogging barefoot at a beach in Mamallapuram, TN. This is an inspiring start to traverse towards a plastic-free India. https://t.co/tdDI2L8pRM — H D Devegowda (@H_D_Devegowda) October 12, 2019

On October 5, Mr Gowda, 86, had tweeted multiple pictures of his visit to the giant statue of Sardar Patel which PM Modi had inaugurated last October. The Prime Minister quoted Mr Gowda's tweet the next morning, ex[pressing his happiness over the JD(S) leader's visit.

"Happy to see our former PM H D Devegowdaji visit the Statue of Unity," PM had Modi tweeted.

Happy to see our former PM Shri @H_D_Devegowda Ji visit the 'Statue of Unity.' https://t.co/GVWMo7UIow — Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) October 6, 2019

Mr Gowda's son, former Karnataka Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy, had formed an alliance between his party and the BJP in 2006. Mr Gowda had expressed his unhappiness at his son's political decisions.

When the coalition the JD(S)-Congress government was tottering to its end earlier this year, Mr Gowda had responded to speculation that his party would once again tie up with the BJP with scorn. He accused the BJP of attempting to bribe Mr Kumaraswamy and others to win them over. The BJP eventually was able to come to power without any alliance.

With this background, the pleasantries exchanged on Twitter between the two leaders is seen as a thaw - in some sense - of ties between the veteran Karnataka politician and the BJP.