Norway to Australia and now New Zealand, questions chase PM Modi's no-press-conference policy

“India's voters favor verbatim middleman. PM Modi perfected that,” said a senior native american diplomatist as the issue of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's no-press-conference policy travelled to New Zealand with him, on Friday. The one-way-communication method came under scrutiny for the third time in less than two months during his overseas engagements, with a journalist in Auckland becoming the latest to publicly question it.This journalist asked India's Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) Secretary (East) Rudrendra Tandon: “Why doesn't Prime Minister Modi take questions from the media?”Tandon's reply, at first, was: “It's not appropriate for me as a civil servant to question Modi's political method. He is a very successful politician."He then offered what he called “some context”. “Prime Minister Modi is a quintessential Indian politician," Tandon said, claiming that “by and large, Indian politicians favour direct contact with their electorate”. He added, “They don't like being spoken down to. They don't like being spoken to through intermediaries.” Tandon then spoke of Modi's “extensive interactions”, such as speeches, meetings and public engagements, and then cited India's history of democratic traditions.This history and democracy line of argument was also taken by another Indian diplomat back in May in Oslo, where Norwegian journalist Helle Lyng had called out as Modi was leaving the venue: “Prime Minister Modi, why don't you take some questions from the freest press in the world?” Modi did not respond and walked on.The New Zealand exchange this week came a day after a remark by an Australian television reporter about Modi's media policy went viral too.‘About as close as you would get’The Aussie episode centred around a pointed observation. During Modi's visit to Melbourne, a reporter for 7News, with the Prime Minister visible in the background, told viewers: “This is about as close as you would get to Narendra Modi on his trip to Melbourne. He famously avoids unscripted news conferences, preferring instead more stage-managed appearances.”The clip was widely shared on X and Instagram, including by Congress spokesperson Aditya Garg and Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) spokesperson Saurav Das, before spreading across other social media platforms.The remark came during Modi's two-day Australia visit, which included bilateral talks with Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, an address to business leaders and interactions with the Indian diaspora. No open press conference or question-and-answer session with journalists was scheduled. He reached New Zealand from Australia.Recurring question abroadThe Australian reporter's “famously avoids unscripted news conferences” observation reminded many of the Norway episode.After a joint appearance with Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Store, as Modi and he were leaving the venue, journalist Helle Lyng had urged Modi to take questions. The issue resurfaced shortly afterwards when Lyng questioned MEA Secretary (West) Sibi George during a separate media briefing. George cited India's age-old credentials, saying India was “the mother of democracy”. The exchange triggered a political debate in India too, with the government backing George's response while Opposition leaders argued that the episode underscored the Prime Minister's reluctance to face unscripted questions.The issue has resurfaced at intervals over the past decade because Modi has not held a solo press conference since assuming office as PM in 2014.One of the rare occasions when he answered questions from journalists came during a joint press conference with then US President Joe Biden at the White House in June 2023. Asked by a Wall Street Journal reporter about concerns over the treatment of Muslims and other minorities in India and democratic values, Modi rejected the premise of the question, saying, “Democracy is in our DNA.” He insisted that there was “absolutely no space for discrimination on the basis of caste, creed, religion, gender or region”.'Redundant'More recently, BJP MP Tejasvi Surya defended Modi's approach during a public interaction, arguing that traditional press conferences were no longer the only way for political leaders to communicate. He called them “redundant”.Surya also said the PM reached citizens directly through speeches, Parliament addresses, interviews, social media and his monthly ‘Mann Ki Baat’ programme.Opposition leaders shared that clip, and have repeatedly rejected that argument, maintaining that speeches and curated interviews cannot substitute for unscripted questioning by independent journalists.