Why Doesn’t PM Modi Hold Solo Press Conferences? New Zealand Journalist Asks Again

It has become something of a recurring skit on PM Modi's foreign tours. A journalist asks why the Prime Minister of the world's largest democracy has never held a solo, unscripted press conference in twelve years across three terms, and India's diplomats step in to explain, again, that this is simply not how he operates. This time the question came from a New Zealand journalist at an MEA media briefing in Auckland on July 11, the final stop of Modi's three nation Indo Pacific tour covering Indonesia , Australia and New Zealand.

MEA Secretary (East) Rudrendra Tandon fielded the question with what he himself described as a sense of deja vu, a nod to the fact that this is now the third time in two months that a foreign journalist has publicly raised the topic during an overseas visit. Tandon called Modi a quintessential Indian politician , explaining that the predominantly rural Indian electorate prefers direct contact and dislikes being spoken to through intermediaries, a skill he said the Prime Minister has perfected on his way to becoming one of India's longest serving leaders. Separately, MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal offered a shorter version of the same defence, noting simply that the Prime Minister has his own style of communication and prefers direct contact with people.

The pattern began in Norway in May, when commentator Helle Lyng called out to Modi as he left a joint media appearance with Norwegian PM Jonas Gahr Store , asking why he does not take questions from journalists. Modi did not respond. It resurfaced again in Melbourne in early July, when Seven News reporter Blake Johnson remarked on air that Modi famously avoids unscripted press conferences in favour of stage managed appearances, a comment that quickly went viral. Opposition leader Rahul Gandhi weighed in after the Norway episode, questioning what message it sends when the world watches a leader appear to run from a few questions.

For context, Modi has not held a solo unscripted press conference in India since taking office in May 2014, a run no modern Indian Prime Minister has matched. He has taken exactly one unscripted question from a foreign journalist during his tenure, from the Wall Street Journal's Sabrina Siddiqui in Washington in 2023, on religious minorities, and did not take a follow up. True to form, he held no press conference in Indonesia, Australia or New Zealand this time either.