On Monday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had just walked off stage without taking a single question from journalists, including one shouted at him by Norwegian commentator Helle Lyng of Dagsavisen. What followed, when MEA Secretary (West) Sibi George and other ministry officials faced the media, was one of the more revealing diplomatic exchanges of Modi’s five-nation tour.
Lyng had already made her position clear before the briefing even began. As Modi walked off stage alongside Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre, she had called out: “Prime Minister Modi, why don't you take some questions from the freest press in the world?” The question went unanswered, though Lyng had expected nothing less. She later wrote on X: “Prime minister of India, Narendra Modi, would not take my question, I was not expecting him to. Norway has the number one spot on the World Press Freedom Index, India is at 157th, competing with Palestine, Emirates and Cuba. It is our job to question the powers we cooperate with.”
