India minister Sushma Swaraj's fridge tweet goes viral

Indian External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj has had to gently tell a Twitter user that she is not the best person to approach for issues with appliances.

Her tweet to a disgruntled owner of a Samsung fridge has gone viral in India and generated a spate of responses.

"Brother I cannot help you in matters of a Refrigerator. I am very busy with human beings in distress," Swaraj tweeted to user @M_VenkatM.

Brother I cannot help you in matters of a Refrigerator. I am very busy with human beings in distress. https://t.co/cpC5cWBPcz

— Sushma Swaraj (@SushmaSwaraj) June 13, 2016

The minister often responds to users who reach out to her for help.

As the tweet gathered traction among people, many congratulated the minister for her response:

@SushmaSwaraj Sushmaji's response is cool, refrigerator or not.

— Neel Rao (@neelrao) June 13, 2016

He Asked Sushma Swaraj For Help On His Refrigerator. Her Response Is Epic https://t.co/j74lV7KOw1

— Vikram Chandra (@vikramchandra) June 14, 2016

Classic! Man wants @SushmaSwaraj to help him fix his Samsung refrigerator. Minister says she's busy saving lives. https://t.co/M4n3TD8kUP

— Rahul Kanwal (@rahulkanwal) June 13, 2016

Hahahaha @SushmaSwaraj nailed this Aaptard !! https://t.co/8DEZFr0HcN

— MSDian (@clickator7) June 13, 2016

Others suggested their own innovative solutions to the problem - the user below offered the services of Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal who once protested against high electricity prices by reconnecting power lines of those who had been unable to pay their bills:

@ModipalliVenkat @irvpaswan please contact @ArvindKejriwal or @AamAadmiParty. He will order probe & prove it that it's due to Modi

— Dirghayu Oza (@dirghayuoza) June 13, 2016

@ModipalliVenkat @irvpaswan @SushmaSwaraj @Samsung_IN Seriously? Minister will help?Wake up!! She has serious things to do! U can ask #Kejri

— Falguni Vasavada-Oza (@falgunivasavada) June 13, 2016

@M_VenkatM

Hi Venkat, no worries @urbanclap will fix this problem while @SushmaSwaraj fixes the country's problems :) DM us your details.

— UrbanClap (@urbanclap) June 14, 2016

But a few more users jumped at the opportunity to ask the minister for help with other "pressing issues":

@SushmaSwaraj Sushma Ji, 2 Years. 39 Indians hostage of ISIS in Iraq. You assured they r alive. Since you are busy with humans, any update?

— Joy (@Joydas) June 13, 2016

And as the debate raged on about why a foreign minister would be the best person to approach for refrigerator problems, a few users offered these insights:

@rahulkanwal @SushmaSwaraj strange indeed.. never seen sushma engaged in foreign affairs. may be one thought she had time for refrigerator

— jmr (@jmrtamilan) June 14, 2016

Maybe he wants it taken up diplomatically with the South Korean government https://t.co/EKsaQWjs3I

— Ashok Malik (@MalikAshok) June 13, 2016

Sushma Swaraj has a reputation for responding to Indians overseas who are in need of diplomatic assistance.

However, there has been at least one post accusing the minister of ignoring requests for help and trying to build social media popularity instead.

The minister has not tweeted again, despite the storm created by her initial response.

But then again, as she said, she is a busy woman.