Some foreign media trying to defame India: Thakur

NEW DELHI: Coming down hard on "selective" foreign reportage of Indian events, Union information and broadcasting minister Anurag Thakur said on Sunday foreign entities are unable to "digest" India's meteoric rise under Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the reason why foreign media is increasingly interfering in India's internal affairs and reporting events with an "agenda and propaganda".
Thakur asserted, however, that foreign interference in the working of India's constitutional mechanisms will not be accepted. He said this in an apparent reference to recent news reports in the international press on a string of events in India, including the disqualification from Parliament of Congress leader Rahul Gandhi.
"India is progressing at a meteoric speed under the leadership of Prime Minister Modi. With global approval ratings of 76%, PM Modi is now the world's most popular leader. Certain foreign entities cannot digest India's progress. Certain international media are perpetuating their agenda and propaganda to defame India. But the foreign press does not get to decide Indian's direction or state. Today, India has no knowledge gap, digital divide, or technology divide. India has everything that any developed nation in the world has. And the biggest thing India has is a government with a nationalistic ideology, one that brings all society together, and which can transform India into a Vishwa Guru," Thakur said, while speaking at the Lokmat media conclave in Nagpur.
The I&B minister alleged some international media houses working in India are pursuing an anti-India agenda and work within a nexus. He also said such institutions cry foul when they are questioned about their "wrongdoing" and use this as a shield to claim to the world that press freedom is under threat in India.