Twitter India head gets US-based role amid tussle with Modi govt

Maheshwari had found himself targeted by the Uttar Pradesh government amid an ongoing conflict with the BJP government at the Centre earlier this year.

The Twitter chief was also issued summons by the state police which were scrapped by a court last month.

Making the announcement about Maheshwari's new role, Yu Sasamoto, the Vice President of Twitter's Japan, South Korea and Asia Pacific division, tweeted: "Thank you to @manishm for your leadership of our Indian business over the past 2+ years. Congrats on your new US-based role in charge of revenue strategy and operations for new markets worldwide. Excited to see you lead this important growth opportunity for Twitter."

The move came some two months after Twitter had said it was concerned about the safety of its staff working in India.

"Right now, we are concerned by recent events regarding our employees in India and the potential threat to freedom of expression for the people we serve," Twitter had said in a rare statement.

"We, alongside many in civil society in India and around the world, have concerns with regards to the use of intimidation tactics by the police in response to enforcement of our global Terms of Service," the statement added.

The Narendra Modi government indulged in a tussle with the US firm first in February when the microblogging site refused to fully comply with an order to take down accounts and posts accused of spreading "misinformation" about farmers protests.

Twitter had then argued some requests were not in line with Indian law.

Following the row, India announced new digital rules attempting to make social media firms more accountable to legal requests for swift removal of posts.

These rules led to an escalation of the standoff as Twitter missed the deadlines for the appointment of India-based executives.

In separate case, the Uttar Pradesh police summoned Maheshwari for questioning over tweets on the platform about the assault of a Muslim man in Ghaziabad.

This week, Twitter again found itself in a controversy after the Congress party and its leader Rahul Gandhi slammed the social network for blocking a tweet over the alleged rape and murder of a 9-year-old girl, saying the platform was playing partisan politics.