‘Why don’t you take questions, Mr Modi?’

INDIAN PM Narendra Modi’s penchant for not taking questions during interactions with the press did not go down well with journalists in Norway, who wanted to quiz the visiting dignitary.

Mr Modi is on a six-day, five-nation tour, and landed in Oslo on Monday to attend the third India-Nordic Summit.

According to The Hindustan Times, the episode unfolded at a joint press statement by PM Modi and his Norwegian counterpart Jonas Gahr Støre. As the two leaders were leaving the venue after their briefing, which did not include a Q&A, a voice rang out across the room: “Prime Minister Modi, why don’t you take some questions from the freest press in the world?”

The voice belonged to Helle Lyng, a journalist with the local newspaper Dagsavisen, who was part of the media contingent covering the visit.

“Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modi, would not take my question, I was not expecting him to,” she subsequently posted on X.

She later also attended the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) briefing on PM Modi’s Norway visit later, where she pressed MEA officials on the prime minister not taking questions.

“Why should we trust you,” she asked, adding, “Can you promise you will stop the human rights violation that goes on in your country?”

While the journalist sought a “straight answer”, MEA’s Sibi George said: “If anyone whose rights are violated, they have the right to go to court. We are proud to be a democracy”.

Published in Dawn, May 20th, 2026