‘Proud to be a democracy’: MEA responds to Norwegian press over PM Modi not taking questions

Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Norway visit, as part of his 5-nation Europe tour, has courted controversy over the lack of media interactions.

As PM Modi issued a joint press statement with his Norwegian counterpart Jonas Gahr Støre in Oslo on Monday, journalists from the “freest press in the world” criticised the Indian prime minister for not taking questions. This also spilled into an MEA presser on the prime minister's visit later, where Indian officials faced questions over “trust” and "human rights".

Helle Lyng, a commentator in a Norwegian newspaper, in a post on social media platform X wrote, “Prime minister of India, Narendra Modi, would not take my question, I was not expecting him to.” She said:

“Norway has the number one spot on the World Press Freedom Index, India is at 157th, competing with Palestine, Emirates & Cuba. It is our job to question the powers we cooperate with,” the journalist wrote with the video.

Later, the Indian embassy in Norway responded to her post, inviting her to a press briefing on PM Modi's visit. The post read, “The Embassy is organizing a press briefing on the Prime Minister’s Visit this evening at 9:30pm at hotel Raddisson BluPlaza hotel. You are most welcome to come and ask your questions there.”

Lyng was present at the press briefing and asked, “Why should we trust you? Can you promise you will stop the human rights violation that goes on in your country? Will the prime minister start taking critical questions from the Indian press?"

In response, MEA Secretary (West) Sibi George gave a lowdown of "what India is". While listing what all originated from India, George could be seen asking someone to let him answer the question without interruption. “Please don't interrupt me,” a visibly irate George said.

George then emphatically pressed, “We hear a lot of people asking why this, why that, but let me tell you this. We are one sixth of the total population of the world, but not one sixth of the problems of the world. We have a constitution which guarantees the fundamental rights of the people. We have equal rights for the women of our country, which is very important.”

"We believe in equality; We believe in human rights. If anyone whose rights are violated, they have the right to go to court. We are proud to be a democracy," he added.

The MEA secretary said that people don't understand the extensive reach of India's media ecosystem and make statements after reading some reports published by "ignorant NGOs".

"You know how many stories are up here. At least 200 TV channels in Delhi alone, in the English language, in Hindi language and multiple languages. People have no understanding of the scale of India. They read one or two news reports published by some godforsaken, ignorant NGOs and then come and ask questions," he said.

To the query over PM Modi not taking questions from journalists, George said that as a country in charge of the visit it is his responsibility to address the media.

“I have been doing that and I will continue to do that,” George said.

Lyng, meanwhile, in another post said she and her colleague “tried multiple times to get them to be specific on human rights, but I was unsuccessful.”