Reporters traveling with President Joe Biden to India for this week’s G20 summit won’t get the opportunity to lob questions to Biden and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi when the two leaders meet in New Delhi, despite multiple requests from the administration for more press access, the White House said Thursday evening.
“This meeting will be taking place at the prime minister’s residence, so, it is unusual in that respect – this is not your typical bilateral visit to India, with meetings taking place in the prime minister’s office and an entire program,” national security adviser Jake Sullivan said Thursday. “This is the host of the G20 hosting a significant number of leaders, doing so in his home, and he set out the protocols he set out.”
In a follow up exchange, Sullivan told reporters “of course,” the administration pushed for a pool spray of the meeting, as is customary when Biden hosts leaders at the White House, joking, “We spend our lives asking for pool sprays and other things” for reporters.
Modi, who has drawn international criticism from press freedom groups criticizing the Indian prime minister for a crackdown on independent reporting, has very rarely taken questions since assuming power.
During a state visit in June, Modi agreed to participate in a news conference at the White House after lengthy, delicate negotiations between the two sides. Indian officials initially balked at the White House’s insistence at holding one, two US officials familiar told CNN at the time.
The administration has been quick to point out the president’s willingness to criticize Modi on press freedom and humanitarian issues under his rule. During his visit in June, six Democratic lawmakers boycotted Modi’s address to Congress, with Reps. Rashida Tlaib, Ilhan Omar and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez citing India’s treatment of Muslim…
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