From ‘new dawn’ to ‘Modi ducks’, Modi-Biden meet is top story in Indian newspapers

Indian prime minister Narendra Modi and US president Joe Biden concluded day three of the PM’s trip to the United States with a state dinner in Washington, DC that saw Modi cracking jokes. He had also said there is “no discrimination in India” when he took two questions at a rare press conference, and addressed a joint session of the US Congress.

Indian newspapers had to battle with being a step behind, thanks to the time difference, but managed very well regardless. Here’s a roundup of major front pages this morning on the Modi-Biden meeting.

The Hindu’s Delhi edition struck its usual straightforward note saying the visit “yields many vital agreements”, with both leaders announcing deals on jet engine tech transfers, drones, health and space cooperation.

A snippet on page 1 quoted former US president Barack Obama as saying India may “pull apart” if the rights of religious and ethnic minorities are not upheld. 

“Sky is not the limit”, said the Times of India headline in Delhi, with a roundup of all the major events of the day before – Modi presenting Jill Biden with a lab-grown diamond, millets being served at the White House, new US consulates in India, Modi’s reply to the journalist insisting there is “absolutely no room for discrimination” in India.

More details appeared on page 15, including a report on how “the treatment of minorities and free speech became a lightning rod during the visit after several Democratic lawmakers pressed Biden to raise the issue with Modi”.

Modi in America was the lead story on page 1 in the Indian Express too, headlined “Deals closed, doors open”. It quoted Biden as saying the US’s partnership with India is “stronger, closer and more dynamic than any time in history”. Modi’s “discrimination” comments featured as a smaller headline on page 1, as did GE Aerospace signing a memorandum of understanding with HAL.

Hindustan Times in Delhi said the south lawns of the White House witnessed “a grand and unprecedented display of the growing strategic partnership and deep people-to-people convergence between India and the US”. 

Its sprawling coverage of Modi’s US trip on page 1 including the press conference, landmark deals and the “all-vegetarian state dinner”. HT said the historic joint statement took “three months, dozens of drafts, sleepless nights, virtual and in person negotiations, extensive internal communications, mutual germination of ideas, and finally, a problem of plenty”.

The New Indian Express in Chennai focused on the GE-HAL deal in its headline, saying the two leaders “sat down to discuss a wide range of bilateral as well as multilateral issues”. A second story on page 1 delved into the gifts exchanged by Modi and Biden “during an intimate dinner” at the White House.

Finally, the Telegraph in Kolkata with the headline “America asks, Modi ducks”. 

“Former US president Barack Obama on Thursday joined the growing list of American politicians and civil society members clamouring to get president Joe Biden to raise concerns about the erosion of religious, media and political freedoms in India when he meets prime minister Narendra Modi,” said one story on page 1. 

The second story was on Modi “repeatedly” denying discrimination in India and not responding to the second part of the journalist’s question on how his government would improve the rights of minorities. 

In India, of course, Modi has never given a press conference, only scripted interviews to certain media houses. But this is just another example of his government’s hostility towards the media, as Kalpana Sharma wrote in her column for Newslaundry. Read it here.