Many have criticized PM Modi for not facing questions from the media on his current foreign tour. It has been the case for nearly seven years that the Prime Minister only issues media statements with his counterpart, there were no questions and answers from reporters. Although before this it has been a tradition that two journalists from both the countries used to ask their respective questions. Richard Walker, chief international editor of German media Deutsche Welle, raised the issue in a tweet on Monday during PM Modi’s visit to Germany.
PM Modi only issued media statements when he appeared before the press after detailed bilateral discussions with Chancellor Olaf Scholz during his German visit. It was said that the question-and-answer round has not been held on the request of the Indian side.
On the other hand, senior Congress leader and former Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Digvijay Singh has tweeted and alleged that “Prime Minister reacts to Rahul ji’s tweet and he claims to be a democratic. Whereas in the last 8 years since becoming the PM, he has not addressed a single press conference.
On Digvijay Singh’s tweet, a user named Upendra Singh Baghel@USBUMR commented, “Guinness World Record is going to be made to name the Prime Minister of this earth’s 130 crore population who has not held a press conference till today? The answer will be Narendra Modi.”
Richard Walker wrote a postscript, “Reporters Sans Frontieres (RSF) places India 150 out of 180 countries on the World Press Freedom Index.” Pakistan, China, Bangladesh, Iran, Iraq and North Korea are also below India in this list. Walker says that all major democracies have been in better shape than India, although Reporters Sans Frontieres (RSF) has not blamed the Modi government alone for this.
It is believed that some newspapers in India control the readers of newspapers in multiple languages. It is alleged that PM Modi has not addressed a single press conference in his country so far. It is also alleged that abroad he fears that foreign media will question him on human rights.