EAM: India has most uncontrollable press

Sandeep Dikshit

New Delhi, May 7

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Sunday took a dig at a western organisation of journalists downgrading India on the press freedom index and pointed out that India has the “most uncontrollable press”.

In response to a question about the low ranking of India on the press freedom index by Reporters Without Borders (RSF — Reporters Sans Frontières) at an interactive event in Mysuru, Jaishankar quipped, “Afghanistan is freer than us. Can you imagine?… Somebody is getting something fundamentally wrong.”

India ranks 161st on the RSF press index and Afghanistan 152nd. India has been “demoted” by 11 ranks since last year.

The minister said such type of rankings on democracy, religious freedom and press freedom index were mind games played with countries whom “you don’t like”.

Jaishankar once again took a jibe at Congress leader Rahul Gandhi. “I would have offered to take classes on China from Rahul Gandhi, but I discovered he was taking classes on China from the Chinese ambassador,” he said.

Referring to Rahul’s meeting with the Chinese envoy during the Doklam crisis in 2017, he said, “When Panda huggers try to be China hawks… it doesn’t fly. He (Rahul) speaks admiringly about the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). The BRI goes through Pakistan-occupied Kashmir. It violates our national integrity and sovereignty. He doesn’t have a word to say on it.”

At the same time, Jaishankar tried to evoke the collective responsibility mantra. “I think on certain issues we have a collective responsibility to at least behave in a way that we do not weaken our (India’s) collective position abroad to do what we have seen in the last three years in China.”

161st on media index

• India ranks 161st on the press freedom index, Afghanistan 152nd
• India has been ‘demoted’ by 11 ranks since last year

Something’s wrong

Afghanistan is freer than us. Can you imagine?… Somebody is getting something fundamentally wrong. — S Jaishankar, External Affairs Minister