Modi Breaks Tradition, Fields Questions from Press during White House Visit

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In a departure from his usual approach, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi surprised observers by engaging in an unscripted press conference at the White House on Thursday.

Modi, who typically avoids unstructured interactions and has overseen a decline in press freedom within India, took part in a somewhat limited news conference, which required significant efforts to arrange. Indian officials agreed to the event just a day prior, as disclosed by an anonymous source familiar with the negotiations.

According to administration officials, the inclusion of media questions is a standard practice during White House state visits, and they conveyed this to Modi’s advisers.

During the press conference, an Indian journalist inquired about Modi’s stance on addressing climate change, while an American reporter pressed him on human rights concerns—an especially delicate topic as the United States seeks to strengthen ties with India to counterbalance China’s influence in the region.

Modi defended India’s democratic principles by asserting that “democracy runs in our veins” and emphasizing that there is “absolutely no space for discrimination.”

While Modi, aged 72, has granted sporadic interviews throughout his nine-year tenure as India’s leader, he has never held a solo press conference. On occasions when questions have been posed to him, he often defers to others present on the stage.

Furthermore, during overseas trips, Modi tends to keep reporters at a distance. For instance, during his visit to Germany last year, when both countries announced a clean energy deal, the Indian delegation insisted on no press conference, as reported by an anonymous German official.

Nevertheless, in the presence of his American counterparts, Modi displayed a slightly more relaxed approach. Eight years ago, when President Barack Obama visited India, Modi answered questions from two reporters, including one from The Big Big News.

Although Modi actively uses social media platforms, with hundreds of millions of followers, hosts a monthly radio program to directly connect with listeners, and frequently delivers significant speeches, he often remains silent on divisive incidents. For instance, he has refrained from commenting on religious minority attacks by Hindu nationalists or the ongoing ethnic violence in India’s remote northeast, which has claimed the lives of at least 100 people since May.

Nilanjan Mukhopadhyay, the author of a biography on Modi, described his silences as “legendary” and pointed out that Modi should not receive excessive credit for a limited press conference in Washington. According to Mukhopadhyay, this move allows Modi to project an image of a reasonable and democratic leader abroad while disregarding press freedom at home.

Press freedom in India has witnessed a decline that predates Modi and his Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), but it has exacerbated during his tenure. The country has fallen eleven places to 160 out of 180 countries in this year’s Press Freedom Index released by Reporters Without Borders.

The organization cited violence against journalists and a partisan media landscape as contributing factors to the “crisis in press freedom in the world’s largest democracy.”

India’s Foreign Minister, Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, dismissed the report’s claims during a recent event. In recent years, journalists have faced arrests and travel restrictions, and numerous cases of criminal prosecution, including charges of sedition, have been brought against them. Simultaneously, the government has introduced sweeping regulations for social media companies, granting increased power to monitor online content.

Furthermore, media outlets critical of Modi have been subjected to tax searches, with the most recent instance involving the BBC after it aired a documentary examining the prime minister’s alleged role in the 2002 anti-Muslim riots in Gujarat, where he served as chief minister at the time. The violence resulted in the death of over 1,000 individuals. Modi has denied allegations of his involvement, and the Indian Supreme Court stated that there was insufficient evidence to prosecute him.

The Indian government swiftly invoked emergency powers under information technology laws to block the two-part BBC program from being shown in the country, leading social media platforms such as Twitter and YouTube to comply with requests to remove links to the documentary.

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Pathi reported from New Delhi. Aamer Madhani and Darlene Superville, writers from The Big Big News, contributed to this report.

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• Narendra Modi’s press conference at the White House – BBC News article covering Narendra Modi’s press conference at the White House.
• India’s declining press freedom – Reporters Without Borders report highlighting the decline of press freedom in India.
• Press Freedom Index – Reporters Without Borders’ annual ranking of press freedom in different countries.
• BBC documentary on 2002 anti-Muslim riots – BBC News article discussing the controversial documentary on the 2002 anti-Muslim riots in Gujarat, India, during Narendra Modi’s tenure as chief minister.