The White House is excited and considers it important that Prime Minister Modi will have a joint press conference with President Biden. John Kirby, the spokesperson for national security, expressed gratitude for Prime Minister Modi's participation in this press event at the end of his visit.


In a significant development, it has been revealed that Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and US President Joe Biden are scheduled to hold a joint news conference where they will address the media and respond to journalists' queries. This announcement holds great significance as Prime Minister Modi has gained a reputation for refraining from taking questions from the media within India.

Throughout his nine years in power, the Indian prime minister has never conducted a press conference within India. There was one instance in 2019 where he attended a press conference, but he did not entertain any questions from the media.

White House national security spokesperson, John Kirby, emphasized that the White House acknowledges the significance of the upcoming press conference. He expressed gratitude for Prime Minister Modi's participation in this press event towards the end of the visit. Kirby stated that the White House considers this event as important and they are pleased that Prime Minister Modi shares the same perspective.

As per CNN reports, the upcoming press conference will follow a specific format, involving one question from an American journalist and another from an Indian journalist.

It seems that the American organizers faced challenges in convincing the Indian side to agree to a press briefing that includes questions. The Indian side allegedly advocated for the release of joint statements instead of engaging in a press conference.

Just before Modi's visit, Indian officials finally reached a compromise. Instead of the traditional "two-and-two" format where both leaders call on two reporters from their respective press corps, they agreed to a "one-and-one" format. This compromise meant that each leader would address a question from one reporter representing their side, as reported by CNN.

Typically, during foreign visits, the White House allows media questions to be directed to the leaders, either before or after the talks, when reporters are present. Despite Modi having visited the US at least five times and two presidents having visited India during the same period, press questions have been limited to after two high-level meetings between Modi and the US president.

During former US President Barack Obama's visit to India as the chief guest of the Republic Day in January 2015, a joint press event took place where one question from Indian media and one question from US media were directed to the leaders.

The Associated Press posed a question to Prime Minister Modi regarding the climate change agreement between China and the US, and inquired whether the Paris CoP summit would yield significant results without India's commitment to emissions reduction. As for President Obama, the American reporter raised questions regarding the situations in Yemen and Ukraine.

The Indian reporter from Newsify , on the other hand, asked questions that sought "details" and highlighted the "friendship" between the two leaders.

During the Indian Prime Minister's visit to New York in 2019, a selected group of Indian reporters were allowed to enter before the bilateral talks between Prime Minister Modi and President Donald Trump commenced. However, the questions asked were primarily directed towards President Trump, and after the third question concerning terrorism and Pakistan, President Trump praised the Indian reporters, expressing admiration for their skills and wishing he had reporters like them.

The last instance where Prime Minister Modi faced multiple questions from the media was during a joint press conference with UK Prime Minister David Cameron in November 2015. During this conference, there were several questions raised regarding the growing intolerance in India and Prime Minister Modi's record as the Chief Minister of Gujarat.

Interestingly, prior to his recent US visit, Prime Minister Modi had a scheduled one-hour interview with The Wall Street Journal. However, he declined to comment on questions related to concerns about democratic backsliding.

In recent times, it has become customary for Modi to abstain from answering questions at any public event, even when present alongside fellow democratic leaders. Every minute of a foreign leader's visit is meticulously negotiated and planned, and the absence of questions during public events has become the norm for Modi. This practice was not observed during foreign visits by previous Indian Prime Ministers.

The prevailing standard of refraining from taking questions during public appearances has become widely recognized, to the extent that other countries are said to be adopting it as well. A reporter from Politico tweeted that during a joint press appearance with Chinese Premier Li Qiang, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz did not entertain any questions. The journalist further stated that China had privately requested the "Indian treatment," referring to Prime Minister Modi's press points in Berlin where he did not take questions.