“Freest Press in the world!” Did this phrase pierce through the rhino-hides of our Godi media and stir up their collective conscience? Now, why am I quoting this phrase. Because it was part of the question shot off by Helle Lying, a young almost unknown Norwegian journalist. It was aimed at the Prime Minister of India at Oslo asking why he was not taking questions from the assemble press persons.
The episode in Oslo was not merely an uncomfortable press interaction. It was a revealing moment that exposed the deep contradictions, insecurities, and rhetorical habits that increasingly define the public diplomacy of India’s Ministry of External Affairs under the present Indian government. What unfolded between Norwegian journalist Helle Lyng and Indian diplomat Sibi George was less a confident defense of India’s democratic credentials and more an exercise in evasion disguised as patriotism.
The most striking feature of the exchange was not the hostility of the questions. Democracies are supposed to withstand hostile questions. The real story was the visible discomfort of a government machinery that has become accustomed to adulation at home and increasingly defensive abroad.
Lyng’s questions were blunt, but they were neither irrational nor unprecedented. She asked why democratic countries should trust India while concerns about press freedom, treatment of minorities, and civil liberties continue to mount. These are not fringe accusations whispered in ideological corners. They are concerns raised repeatedly by international watchdogs, foreign legislatures, journalists, scholars, and even many Indians themselves. A mature diplomatic establishment could have responded with specificity, data, acknowledgment of challenges, and evidence of institutional resilience. Instead, the MEA chose the familiar route of wounded nationalism and rhetorical inflation.
Sibi George’s response rested on several predictable pillars. India has a Constitution. India has elections. Women have rights. Courts exist. India is large and complex. Critics rely on NGOs. Therefore, criticism of India is either ignorant, selective, or malicious.
The problem is that none of these arguments actually answered the question.
Invoking the Constitution while sidestepping allegations of its erosion is a classic bureaucratic manoeuvre. North Korea also has a constitution. Russia conducts elections. Turkeye has courts. The mere existence of democratic institutions is not proof that those institutions are functioning freely, independently, or without intimidation. The real question is whether constitutional guarantees are being upheld in spirit rather than merely displayed as ceremonial artefacts.
George’s claim that the “best example of human rights” is the right to vote was particularly revealing. Voting alone does not exhaust the meaning of democracy. A democracy is not simply a five-yearly ritual of pressing buttons on electronic machines. Democracy also requires a free press, dissent without fear, independent institutions, protection of minorities, and the ability to criticise the government without risking harassment, sedition charges, tax raids, arrests, or digital mobs. No, not just digital mobs but mob-lynching, bulldozing homes to rubble without any legal or constitutional sanction. By reducing democracy to elections alone, the MEA inadvertently echoed the logic of many illiberal regimes around the world that maintain electoral processes while hollowing out democratic culture.
Even more troubling was the tone of moral self-congratulation. George appeared less interested in addressing concerns than in asserting civilizational innocence. The argument that India is “one-sixth of humanity but not one-sixth of the world’s problems” sounded impressive rhetorically but functioned largely as statistical smoke. Human rights concerns are not invalidated by population size. If anything, the scale of India makes institutional accountability even more important.
The dismissal of critics as “ignorant NGOs” was another weak point. Governments everywhere attack NGOs when scrutiny becomes inconvenient. Yet many of the concerns raised about India today do not emerge only from NGOs. They are reflected in global press freedom rankings, reports by legal scholars, testimony from former civil servants, statements by opposition leaders, court observations, and the lived experiences of journalists and activists inside India. Simply branding all criticism as foreign ignorance may excite domestic nationalist audiences, but internationally it projects fragility rather than confidence.
The most damaging aspect of the episode, however, was the contrast between style and substance. The MEA increasingly performs diplomacy like televised political combat. Officials often speak not to persuade skeptical foreign audiences but to generate viral clips for domestic consumption. The objective appears to be producing moments of nationalist applause rather than nuanced engagement. George’s answers may have played well among supporters who equate criticism of the government with criticism of India itself. But diplomacy is not a primetime shouting match. Foreign journalists are not party spokespersons waiting to be intimidated into silence.
In fact, the very defensiveness of the response strengthened the journalist’s point. Confident democracies do not panic when confronted by uncomfortable questions. They answer calmly, precisely, and transparently. When every criticism is framed as anti-national bias, governments begin to resemble insecure regimes rather than self-assured democracies.
The Indian government’s broader communication strategy also loomed over the exchange. Lyng’s question about why the Prime Minister of India rarely takes unscripted press questions was particularly important because it touched a nerve that the government has never convincingly addressed. The Indian Prime Minister remains one of the most media-controlled major leaders in the democratic world. His press interactions are heavily choreographed, interviews are often friendly and pre-screened, and genuinely adversarial questioning is exceedingly rare. This creates an image problem internationally because democratic legitimacy today is judged not only by electoral victories but also by openness to scrutiny.
The irony is that India possesses enormous democratic strengths that could have been articulated intelligently. India truly does have an independent judiciary in many respects. It has vibrant elections, noisy public discourse, active regional politics, and a politically aware citizenry. The country remains far more pluralistic than many of its critics acknowledge. A sophisticated diplomatic defense would have acknowledged imperfections while emphasising institutional resilience and ongoing democratic contestation.
Instead, the MEA adopted a posture that suggested any criticism itself was illegitimate.
This approach is increasingly counterproductive. India today seeks global leadership. It wants a permanent seat on the United Nations Security Council. It presents itself as the voice of the Global South and as a democratic alternative to authoritarian China. Such ambitions inevitably invite scrutiny. A rising power cannot demand international influence while simultaneously reacting to criticism with outrage and deflection.
There was also an unmistakable asymmetry in the encounter. The journalist asked direct questions. The diplomat responded with abstractions. She asked about violations. He spoke about voting. She asked about trust. He spoke about India’s size. She asked about accountability. He spoke about constitutional ideals. The conversation often felt like two people operating in parallel universes.
The incident also reflected a deeper transformation within sections of India’s governing establishment. Over the last decade, criticism from foreign media has increasingly been portrayed as evidence of colonial arrogance, anti-India prejudice, or Western hypocrisy. While selective Western outrage certainly exists and should be challenged, the constant weaponisation of postcolonial grievance has become a convenient substitute for introspection. Not every uncomfortable question is imperialism. Sometimes criticism is simply criticism.
In the end, the Oslo episode did not damage India because a Norwegian journalist asked tough questions. Democracies survive questioning all the time. The damage came from the impression that India’s diplomatic machinery now struggles to distinguish between defending the nation and defending the ruling establishment.
A truly confident India would not fear scrutiny from foreign journalists. It would welcome scrutiny as proof that it still belongs to the democratic tradition it proudly claims to represent.
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