The recent visit of Modi to US not being reported on front pages of American newspapers was frowned upon

By Sunil Raman

On Thursday, 41 heads of state and government from Africa gathered in Delhi for the largest such gathering in India since Independence. Never were so many African heads of state and government present either at the Commonwealth or NAM conferences in the 1980s.

The Africa-India Summit is the third one since 2008, but this one is the most significant so far considering the big presence of African leaders at one venue. The credit is due to Prime Minister Narendra Modi for that.

But many in the Indian media have preferred to ignore the event. Would this have been the reaction had the leaders been not from Africa but from Europe? This crucial question begs for an answer.

When the first such gathering was organized by the then prime minister Manmohan Singh in 2008, 14 heads of state and government personally attended the summit. It is the sustained effort of the Government of India that has borne fruit with such a large attendance this time, which included Egyptian President Sisi and Moroccan King Mohammed VI.

Even before PM Modi came to power, India’s rising economic growth, rising young population and opportunities provided by a 300 million-plus middle class had begun to get attention. His elevation as the prime minister and his efforts to craft a muscular foreign policy got him tremendous media traction.

It is his outreach to people and countries, many of which had been ignored or taken for granted by New Delhi, is what has changed the way diplomacy is now practiced by India under PM Modi.

What is the approach of the media to developments, as India becomes more assertive and vocal about its place in an evolving world order? Unfortunately, the lack of interest in international news beyond the limited “breaking news” related to Pakistan, has changed little.

Every issue is viewed through the prism of Pakistan, while the Modi government has clearly charted a path where it seeks to engage the world on India’s terms and not letting Pakistan to dominate the narrative of India’s perception of the world.

Transforming India into a confident regional superpower has to ride on the back of a strong economy and a more assertive political leadership. While economic growth and the market have changed perception of India, the political leadership under Modi has moved the needle on positioning India as an Asian power that seeks to have a greater say in world affairs. Yet we see none of it in the media.

Dominance of television news channels in our lives has impacted newspapers as well. Every news development on India’s foreign policy is tested against the yardstick of “win or loss” for the country. Of course, there are issues of economics and trade that TV managements and editorial rooms have to be mindful of. Should that, however, be seen as the sole criteria when reporting on news from say, Sri Lanka or Maldives or Nepal? Ideally, no.

But perceptions and opinions are largely shaped by the media. While no government can dictate how it seeks media to cover a news development, probably the time has come when there is greater engagement between foreign ministry and top editorial heads of news organisations.

Informal interaction between the foreign office and senior editorial managers to discuss India’s position on issues such as Pakistan is not new. Such informal chats have been a practice since Independence. Individual foreign policy writers and journalists covering the foreign ministry are spoken to and briefed. But is it time for a more structured and regular interaction?

The Africa-India summit in Delhi could be a starting point for this exercise.

One TV news channel had a strap across the screen saying “India’s $10 billion against China’s $30 billion”. This seemed to have been the selling point of a largest gathering of African leaders in India who went beyond discussing extension of lines of credit and scholarships. Africa’s perception among most, even educated Indians, is shaped by the western media and its images of starving children or unstable political regimes.

If only one were to look at some of the other stories in recent past, the gap is wide between how India would like to be projected and the manner in which media perceives it. If Nepal earthquake coverage ended up projecting India as a colonial power, the little coverage on developments in Maldives ended up showing India as a loser against China. Understandably, diplomatic nuances might not be easy to articulate or explain but that is where the challenge of reporting on foreign policy issues lies.

Sri Lanka’s civil war is another issue on which many in the Indian media fall into the trap of their western counterparts. And, Colombo’s engagement with Beijing is interpreted again as Sri Lanka “going the China way”! Ask any Lankan diplomat and he will tell you that while Colombo wants to be free to decide on its relations with China given its proximity, it can never go against India’s interests.

Coverage of Bangladesh and India’s relations with Dhaka continue to be reported through a biased mindset. Many in India would not know about the dramatic transformation in human development indices of Bangladesh in the last decade.

Many in India are sensitive to how the country is reported by foreign media. The recent visit of Modi to US not being reported on front pages of American newspapers was frowned upon. Have we ever asked how we report and portray foreign countries particularly, our South Asian neighbours?

Ouagadougou, capital of Burkina Faso, had made news in 1995 when prime minister Narasimha Rao made an announcement on government’s policy towards Jammu and Kashmir. I recall how journalists scrambled for an atlas (there was no internet then) to locate the country and many tried to get the pronunciation of the capital right. Surely much has changed since.

Hyperbole and hysterical responses to issues that resonate beyond India’s borders need mature handling. People in these countries watch and absorb what Indian media says and that shapes opinion about us as a country. A rising India needs a more responsible coverage of foreign policy issues. Is it too much to expect from the media?

The writer is a former BBC journalist