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During Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s official visit to the Netherlands, a major controversy erupted during a press briefing in The Hague.
While the official diplomatic objective of the visit was to elevate bilateral ties to a “strategic partnership” — heavily driven by trade, defence, and semiconductor technology — the exchange between Dutch journalists and an Indian diplomat underscored deep friction between Western journalistic standards and the Modi government’s tightly controlled public relations process.
As The Wire’s Devirupa Mitra has reported, ahead of the dinner for Modi hosted at Catshuis, the official residence of the Dutch prime minister just outside The Hague, PM Rob Jetten spoke with local reporters. Jetten was asked about aspects of Dutch-India relations.
Jetten told reporters just before Modi arrived that there were concerns among the Netherlands and other EU member states about “developments in India” under Modi’s BJP.
