A question over why Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s reluctance to conduct press conferences has once again landed a senior Indian diplomat in trouble, but this time in New Zealand, after a similar situation had cropped up in Norway two months ago, which gained notoriety.
During an exclusive media interaction conducted by Narendra Modi during his visit to Auckland on Saturday, Secretary (East) in the Ministry of External Affairs Rudrendra Tandon was asked point-blank whether Modi had conducted a press conference for the New Zealand media. Tandon laughed and said the question reminded him of a similar situation that happened in Norway during Modi’s trip there.
He then offered an answer that many found more amusing than convincing. Tandon said it would not be “appropriate for me as a civil servant to question Mr Modi’s political method,” before adding that Modi is a “quintessential Indian politician” who prefers direct contact with his electorate. He went on to say Indian voters are “predominantly rural folk” who want direct contact and do not like being “spoken down to” or addressed “through intermediaries,” claiming Modi has “perfected the art” of this direct engagement.
The explanation sidestepped the actual question of why a sitting Prime Minister avoids unscripted questions from journalists, at home or abroad, and instead framed India’s electorate as the reason the press itself gets shut out.
The Norway episode Tandon referred to occurred when Norwegian journalist Helle Lyng Svendsen said on social media that Modi had not taken her question, and raised the issue of India and Norway’s rankings on the World Press Freedom Index. That incident, during a joint press appearance with Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre, prompted India to publicly reaffirm its commitment to human rights and democratic values. Separately, MEA Secretary (West) Sibi George pushed back at the time, telling Western critics that India, despite housing a sixth of the world’s population, does not account for a sixth of the world’s problems.
Modi has not held a solo press conference since taking office in 2014. He has taken part in joint appearances with foreign leaders and given interviews to select media outlets, but has consistently avoided unscripted questioning, a pattern that has now been raised by journalists in both Europe and the Pacific within the space of a couple of months.
Svendsen, who faced a wave of online abuse in India after the Norway episode, reacted to the New Zealand and Australia moments with a mix of vindication and humour. She said being screamed at by an NDTV reporter and an India Today host back in May felt worth it now, thanking reporters in New Zealand and Australia for keeping up the same question.
