India Asked Trump To Keep Reporters From Questioning Modi, US Ambassador Says

India-West News Desk

NEW DELHI – Prime Minister Narendra Modi has long been known for avoiding open press conferences, and a revelation by US Ambassador to India Sergio Gor suggests that the preference for tightly controlled public appearances is managed behind the scenes on his foreign travels.

India specifically asked the United States not to allow questions from reporters after Modi’s meeting with President Donald Trump on the sidelines of the G7 summit in France in June, Gor said. Trump agreed to the request but appeared to forget it when the meeting began, turning what was expected to be a tightly managed media appearance into a 45-minute question-and-answer session.

The episode offers a rare glimpse into the arrangements surrounding Modi’s public interactions with the press, at a time when his reluctance to face unscripted questions has repeatedly drawn attention. Modi is highly conscious of his public image and generally relies on prepared remarks and controlled media engagements rather than open-ended press conferences.

Speaking at the Economic Times World Leaders Forum on August 22, Gor recalled a conversation with Trump before the June 17 meeting in Evian-les-Bains, France. Trump had asked what the Indian side planned to raise and whether New Delhi had any requests.

“And the MEA had one ask,” Gor said, referring to India’s Ministry of External Affairs. “It was, ‘Let’s bring in the media, let’s not do a full press conference, no questions.’” Gor said he conveyed the request directly to Trump.

“I told the president, I said, ‘The Indians prefer no questions.’ He said, ‘Sure, no problem,’” the ambassador recalled. The meeting began with a large media contingent in the room. Modi and Trump delivered their opening remarks before Trump turned toward reporters and asked, “Any questions?”

Modi was beside Trump as the US president took questions from reporters. Modi, according to the account, delivered his opening remarks from a prepared text.

Indian government sources have subsequently sought to downplay the significance of the request, saying the Indian side was simply communicating the standard protocol followed by New Delhi for VVIP visits.

“Discussions regarding arrangements for public appearances of leaders are normal practice ahead of any VVIP visit. In this regard, the Indian side communicated its standard practice for such visits,” the sources said.

But the disclosure comes after his visits to Europe, Australia and New Zealand earlier this year, where journalists raised questions with Indian diplomats about why the prime minister does not routinely take questions from the media.

Norwegian journalist Helle Lyng went viral after directly asking Modi whether he would take questions from what she called “the freest press in the world” during his visit to Europe. Modi did not respond. In Australia, the press routinely, during his visit there remarked about him not talking to the press.

Modi, in the US was forced, during  his2023 bilateral visit to Washington, to participate in a joint press conference with then-President Joe Biden. The Associated Press reported at the time that US administration officials had emphasized to Modi’s advisers that taking questions was standard practice for White House state visits.

In the June meeting with Trump the US president appears to have done what New Delhi had specifically sought to prevent: opened the floor to reporters.