IF a picture is worth a thousand words, a selfie with the Indian Prime Minister can bring in tens of thousand of fans.

Tony Abbott discovered this earlier this month when his Indian fanbase skyrocketed after the visiting leader posted a pic of the two at the MCG on his G20 visit.

Abbott’s Facebook page now says he’s more popular in New Delhi than anywhere else in the world, and the abundance of likes from his offshore fans prompted speculation the PM could be importing likes from overseas.

MORE: The PM is huge in New Delhi

The disproportionate number of fans was originally pointed out in a Facebook post by comedy duo the Bondi Hipsters.

So @TonyAbbottMHR's spin doctors—who cost taxpayers $4.3M/year—are apparently buying Facebook likes from New Delhi. https://t.co/uXou3qZ0Um — Benjamin Law (@mrbenjaminlaw) November 25, 2014

“Hey Tony brah ... Have you been buying Facebook likes?” a post alongside a screenshot of where Mr Abbott’s likes are coming from read.

“Either that or you’re really popular with 18-34 year olds from New Delhi.”

It was also noted that the number of likes on the PM’s official Facebook page had skyrocketed over the past couple of weeks, fuelling speculation.

A govt of smoke, mirrors, lies & deceit. LNP busted BUYING likes 2 make Abbott look popular! #AusPol via @davrosz pic.twitter.com/ax7ce8k1pl — Kiera (@KieraGorden) November 25, 2014

Turnbull, Shorten and Palmer most popular in home states. Abbott in Delhi. Buying Facebook likes? #auspol pic.twitter.com/Xz9YRbJkNY — Matt Smith (@nightlightguy) November 25, 2014

When asked about the speculation, a spokesman for the Prime Minister said the reason for the high number of offshore likes was indeed the second option proposed by the Hipsters.

“No ‘likes’ or advertising have been purchased for the Prime Minister’s Facebook page,” a statement to news.com.au read.

“It is no secret that the Prime Minister hosted a number of world leaders in recent times, including Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

“These visits attracted large international audiences to the Prime Minister’s social media channels, thus generating a spike in organic engagement with the page.”

It checks out, too.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has more than 25 million Facebook fans and eight million Twitter followers.

He consistently ranked as the most mentioned leader on social media during the G20 summit earlier this month.

A selfie with Mr Abbott posted to Facebook on November 18 — the day Abbott’s follower base blew up — garnered more than 700,000 likes and was shared more than 11,600 times.