In India, every second foreign correspondent has been summoned by the Narendra Modi government to explain their reportage critical of ministries. Since August 2019, almost no one has been allowed to visit Jammu and Kashmir and report independently there. And journalists who write “negative stories” are given visas valid for less than a year, putting their jobs at stake.
These are some of the findings of three internal surveys conducted in 2020, 2021 and 2022 among journalists in India who are either foreign nationals or who are overseas citizens of India cardholders. The results encapsulate the struggles they face in India, especially at a time when the Modi government has an uneasy relationship with the foreign press.
This has worsened with the government’s backlash to the BBC’s documentary on Narendra Modi, which was swiftly followed by the income tax department conducting “surveys” at the BBC’s offices in Delhi and Mumbai.
As one foreign correspondent with a European media house told Newslaundry, they have “endured enormous pressure” for reports critical of the Modi government. “It’s become extremely stressful for our employees here,” they said on condition of anonymity. “We feel unsafe after a sensitive story is published.”
In the surveys – and the results of two of them were shared with the ministry of external affairs – the journalists answered questions like these:
1. What was the duration of your visa?
2. Were you permitted to visit restricted/protected areas? (This includes Jammu and Kashmir, Ladakh, the Northeast, the Andaman and Nicobar islands, border areas, etc.)
3. How long did you have to wait for permit approval?
4. Did the MEA call in your bureau chief/editor to discuss reports?
5. Did you face backlash from agencies close to the government or the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh?
Newslaundry looked at the results of the three surveys and spoke to foreign correspondents in India on what it’s like to work here. Here’s what we found. All the journalists only spoke on condition of anonymity, and did not want any identifying details to be revealed.
The first two surveys were endorsed by the Foreign Correspondents’ Club after being internally conducted among foreign correspondents, and the third was organised through the club. All the respondents to the surveys were anonymous, so Newslaundry could not independently verify any of the claims made. We sent questionnaires to the home ministry and external affairs ministry but received no response.
Access denied
It’s been difficult for foreign correspondents to get permits to visit restricted and protected areas and, over the years, it’s only getting harder.
For context, here’s the home ministry’s official list of restricted/protected areas as of 2022. It comprises the whole of Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, Mizoram, Sikkim, Nagaland, and the Andaman & Nicobar islands; and parts of Rajasthan, J&K, Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh.
The “unofficial” list, which is prepared by the home ministry, also includes Assam, Tripura, Meghalaya and Lakshadweep. This means foreign correspondents also require government permission to report from these areas.
“I have applied for permits for both Jammu and Kashmir and also, Assam. Both times I never heard back from the authorities. It has put us off as a media outlet from applying for other permits for other restricted areas,” reads a comment in the 2022 report. Journalists rued that the eight-to-ten week advance notice has virtually prevented them from reporting breaking stories.
In the 2020 survey, nine out of 30 respondents who applied for permits got them; 21 were denied permission. About 74 percent of the permits were to visit J&K and 21 percent for Assam.
But the survey also included the first half of 2019, before the abrogation of Article 370 saw the tightening of restrictions. Journalists described this as a “tipping point”, marking the end of them being able to report from Kashmir. A few months after the abrogation, external affairs minister S Jaishankar said it wasn’t “safe” yet for foreign journalists to visit Kashmir.
But the journalists are not buying it.
A correspondent in India who works with a European media house told Newslaundry, “It’s phoney to say journalists are not allowed to report from Kashmir because of security issues. Four years later, do we still have a security issue?” He said he’s applied “multiple times” since August 2019 to visit Kashmir and Assam – but all his applications have been turned down.
This is reflected in the results of the surveys. The 2021 survey indicated that only four percent of those who applied got permits, and every fourth permit was for J&K. The 2022 survey said no permit was issued at all, and almost all respondents blamed it on “too much time taken to approve applications”.
As a foreign correspondent told Newslaundry, “J&K is a huge story we are not able to tell the world.”
Newslaundry checked the archives of the Guardian, New York Times and Washington Post for the last two years but found no ground reports from Kashmir bylined by foreign correspondents.
It should be added that in 2020, the central government invited a group of foreign journalists to visit Kashmir, probably to see that all is well. A foreign correspondent in India told Newslaundry they had received an invite too.
“But my employer does not endorse such a tour,” they said. “If you allow that to be the standard, it means you can’t report freely.”
Kanchan Gupta, senior advisor with the ministry of information and broadcasting, emphasised that the Indian government cannot overlook the “safety” of foreign journalists in conflict zones.
“If a foreigner is taken hostage by a lone wolf in Kashmir, India will be held responsible,” he said.
Has there been a recent kidnapping of a foreign journalist in an Indian conflict zone? Gupta pointed out the 21-year-old kidnapping and murder of journalist Daniel Pearl in Pakistan.
Newslaundry asked eight foreign correspondents in India if they’d visited or independently reported from Kashmir since 2019. All of them said no. One journalist said he’d applied three times but “have not heard back which certainly means no”.
Another issue is that foreign journalists are required to send their itineraries and bookings eight to 10 weeks in advance to the home ministry along with the “purpose” of their visits. If you’re hoping to report on a breaking news story, the advance notice required essentially means you can’t.
For example, during the Assam government’s controversial crackdown on child marriages, one foreign correspondent told Newslaundry that his publication finally sent an Indian journalist instead because the permit “never comes”. Another correspondent said their media house “hires stringers” where possible – though this isn’t very safe to do in Kashmir.
Several foreign correspondents are now discouraged about applying for permits at all. “We are a small operation here so we don’t have time and resources to be buried under bureaucracy,” said a correspondent. “I have to make a choice – either doing that or reporting.”
Gupta was unimpressed with these woes. “I don’t understand this intense proclivity to demand extra privileges,” he said cuttingly. “People don’t stop applying for US visas because it was unsuccessful [on first attempt].”
What about journalists denied permits to do “non-sensitive” stories, or even tourism, as a European correspondent complained to Newslaundry? One of them had to wait five months before getting a permit to travel to the Northeast, where they wanted to report on Sikkim’s tremendous progress in organic farming.
Gupta said he wasn’t aware of cases wherein permits for non-sensitive stories were delayed or denied. “I think the home ministry or external affairs ministry would be much better placed to tell you about such cases. But if somebody has written 20 weepy stories on minority persecution, how can we expect them to cover stories on science, technology or agriculture?”
Journalists told Newslaundry there’s a struggle to get J-visas to countries like Pakistan and Afghanistan too, if they apply from India. Bangladesh is “not giving visas to mediapersons at the moment”.
Summons and threats
In the last three years, nearly half of the surveys’ respondents said their editors or bureau chiefs were contacted by the ministry of external affairs to “discuss government criticism” of their stories, or they faced “backlash” from certain agencies.
The sample size for the surveys is small though. In 2022, out of 19 respondents, 42.11 percent said they faced some consequences or the other, as against 33 percent in 2021 and 63.16 percent in 2020.
One respondent in 2020 said their editor “received a call from India” after they reported from Kashmir. “My editor said he does not have to give any details and refused to discuss the matter.”
Another in 2022 said they’d been “threatened with deportation twice”. A respondent was “summoned” by authorities concerned to “discuss our coverage of Kashmir”; another said an email was sent to their employer “asking not to cover Muslim persecution”.
The journalist with a western media house, who had told Newslaundry they’d “endured enormous pressure”, said the latest wave of threats came after they broke a story on national security. This can be “pretty overwhelming”, said the journalist, who is one of the longest serving foreign correspondents in India.
“It’s become extremely stressful for our employees here. The safety concern is not on a day-to-day basis,” they said. “But we feel unsafe after a sensitive story is published. So yes, it’s like a pendulum.”
A foreign correspondent with a western media house said they constantly receive calls, whether it’s about Covid coverage or farm protests. “Social media is full of hate,” they added. “I have turned off all my social media notifications. Though it’s nothing compared to what local journalists go through. It’s awful and, at times, too graphic.”
“They read everything we’ve written,” added a journalist who works with a western publication, saying they’ve not faced retribution but their work is “closely scrutinised” by the government.
V for visa, or vendetta
Foreign journalists usually get a one-year, single-entry J-visa to India while OCI cardholders have lifetime visas.
But this isn’t always the case.
In 2021, the government modified OCI rules so cardholders who want to visit for “journalism, missionary, Tabligh or mountaineering” need to obtain special permission to do so. Journalists told Newslaundry this was the “biggest blow” and part of the government’s “carrot and stick” approach towards them.
Gupta claimed Vice journalist Angad Singh, an OCI, had abused his status and the previous rule which allowed all OCIs to report from India. “There were other such instances. The new rule requiring OCIs to secure permit for reporting from India is to ensure due process and bring their status at par with journalists holding J-visa.”
Singh had made a documentary that showed India in a “negative manner”; he was deported from Delhi to New York last year. Last month, the central government told the Delhi High Court that Singh has been “blacklisted”.
As for foreign journalists, some claimed they have until recently been on visas for six months, or even three months, though the survey findings for 2020 indicated two-thirds of respondents got one-year visas. It was 76 percent in 2021 and 81 percent in 2022. A government official told Newslaundry, on condition of anonymity, that 100-200 journalists are on J-visas in India.
A journalist who got a visa for a few months was quoted in the survey as saying, “I feel like it has been used as a tool to punish me when the Indian authorities do not like stories I write.” Another said, “A short visa puts uncertainty and precariousness.”
A European broadcast journalist told Newslaundry, “It’s a message – ‘fall in line or else’. I know a few journalists who are on six-month visas.”
Another correspondent covered “non-sensitive issues” for a publication whose name was prefixed by a country that is “hostile to India”. “I was grilled during an interview at the embassy but the visa never came. I was forced to change my employer.”
But Gupta pointed out that a J-visa is a privilege, not a right.
“It’s entirely possible that people applying for a visa for any foreign country will get a visa for varying durations. Some will get it for six months, others may get it for one month,” he said. “In this situation, you can’t have a rule of thumb. As details of every person and purpose of visit differ, so do visa durations.”
Gupta also said that “anybody and everybody” can “claim to be a journalist”: “Some report either erroneously from conflict zones or use their privileges to gather sensitive information from border areas. There are also cases where so-called foreign journalists have participated in political protests. This violates visa rules.”
A government official, who spoke to Newslaundry on condition of anonymity, said India’s visa regime is broadly governed by reciprocity.
“For example, the UK grants a six-month visa to Indian journalists. Why can’t we do the same?” he said. “Similarly in other countries like Bangladesh, it is difficult for journalists to secure visas. We should reciprocate in the same way.”
Foreign correspondents told Newslaundry this argument is “ludicrous”. Also, they said if reciprocity is adhered to, are all UK journalists in India on six-month visas?
An office bearer with the Foreign Correspondents’ Club said they’ve diligently followed up with the ministry of external affairs. He said they have been told there is no criterion of a minimum time period for grant of visa or extension. “It is dealt with on a case by case basis,” he said. “We have made some progress in the last few years. Those who were on three-month visas now have six months and others have received one-year extensions.”
Surveys and raids
All the foreign correspondents that we spoke to were unanimous that the IT “surveys” on the BBC were “worrisome”, even if they weren’t entirely unexpected.
“The BBC raid means you can target anyone,” said the European journalist quoted before. “BBC is one of the biggest and most symbolic foreign media in India. But the government has touched a big one. If you touch a big one, then who are we? BBC is directly targeted because it’s presented as ‘anti-national’ and we know it’s a message for others.”
Another called the IT surveys a “test case”. “It shows how confident the government is. With the successful tax raid on the BBC, they think they can get away with anything. It will set a dangerous precedent.” It’s a “chilling tactic”, said another.
A journalist from Europe added that the Indian government seems to target organisations that either have “sizable visibility” or “viral” content.
They’re also not thrilled with the response from foreign governments. Only this week did the UK government finally announce that it stood by the BBC. The US had vaguely said it was “aware” of the raids and that it supports the “importance of free press around the world”.
It’s important to remember that India has positioned itself as a crucial ally of the West over the last two decades. It also solidified its role in world politics. More recently, India claimed the G20 presidency, has a suave foreign minister in S Jaishankar, shrugged off western outrage to increase oil imports from Russia, and scripted a mega-deal with Boeing and Airbus.
How can press freedom compete?
As a foreign correspondent said, “The biggest issue now is that the UK and US governments won’t protest, because geopolitical and commercial interests outweigh little democratic values such as press freedom.”
A European journalist compared India with his home country. “The current government in India is ready to retaliate against whoever writes against Modi or the government,” they said. “In my country, if a journalist writes against the government, the outlet is not raided, nor does the reporter face defamation.”
Referring to BJP spokesperson Gaurav Bhatia’s tirade against the BBC, the journalist added, “But here, the government is openly propagating fake news against the BBC. What the fuck is this?”
So, what will it take for foreign governments to respond? One journalist wondered, “Are they waiting for some foreign journalist to be killed by an extremist on the field?” Another said, despondently, “If I am detained tomorrow, I don’t think anyone will come help.”
But Gupta shrugged off allegations that the IT survey was retaliatory. “The moment is never right,” he said. “People will keep saying you can’t do this because of elections or movies or articles or even documentaries. The government of India’s life is a life of missed opportunities.”
Dialogue and dissent
So, is there hope?
The Foreign Correspondent Club representative said media presence and interest in covering India is growing, and “one must note that major global media houses are expanding their bureaus in India. We believe that constant dialogue between foreign journalists and the government could help in making progress on issues of access to top officials, access to certain restricted areas and extension/renewal of visas that apply to foreign nationals. We are regularly bringing up the issues and concerns of the foreign correspondents to the authorities we deal with.”
But he admitted that interactions with the government often resembled a game of cat and mouse.
“Whenever the government wants to give concessions to a journalist, they write a piece critical of the government. Then the government comes back to us saying, ‘see what they have written.’ Then it goes back on its promise,” a senior club official said.
He added that “at least six to seven cabinet ministers” have held briefings and interactions with foreign correspondents, including agriculture minister Narendra Singh Tomar and his team explaining the benefit of the farm laws before the laws were revoked, and with other ministers on important bilateral, multilateral and domestic agendas of the government.
A foreign correspondent told Newslaundry this openness to interaction is missing when it comes to other “sensitive issues”. “We don’t get the same response then. The sense of hostility has increased,” they said.
Additionally, “only a tiny pool” of ministers and officials is accessible, a journalist said. “They talk when they want to shove the government’s line in our face,” they said. “For example, nobody from the railway or environment ministries will respond for stories.”
Gupta said this isn’t true.
“Since 2021, I have had union ministers such as Nirmala Sitharaman, Piyush Goyal and others to brief foreign journalists on various topics,” he said. “It was like an ‘ask me anything’ sort of informal interaction. It went well in the first two briefings. By the third briefing, most foreign correspondents skipped and instead sent their Indian hands. This means they weren’t taking these interactions seriously. Now, they complain they don’t have direct access to ministers. However, we are going to persist with such interactions.”
He said petroleum minister Hardeep Singh Puri had met bureau heads and other senior foreign correspondents in one such interaction. Among the various issues that were discussed was India’s increased oil imports from Russia during the Ukraine war. “Sadly, no space was given to either our data or position. A few days later, stories appeared blaming India for oil imports,” he said.
He also brought up that old bugbear – “foreign media’s bias”. His proof was Washington Post’s India bureau chief Gerry Shih saying foreign correspondents are only sent to do “negative stories”.
This was during The Media Rumble 2022. Shih did talk about the foreign media’s general “slant towards writing about negative news”, and said there are basic differences that “large, influential American newspapers” have with India’s governing party. He also said India’s press freedom is suffering.
Watch Shih’s comments in full at the 12.51-13.43 mark:
“India is a wonderful country,” said the European journalist. “I have lived here long enough. It’s exciting to see how powerful and important India has become. But it’s a shame that democracy is ignoring press freedom.”
Another said foreign reporters don’t have any agenda “per se”, nor a preconception against the country. “We write without bias on India or its government. We might react more to certain topics as we come with certain perspectives, but our main duty, as many journalists, is to check if what the government does respects the law of the land. Nothing else.”
So, is press freedom robust here? A foreign correspondent hit back, “Why would I speak off the record and not let you even write the name of the country I come from?”
That says it all.
Update at 12.45 pm, Feb 25: This report has been updated with details on how the third survey were conducted.
Newslaundry is a reader-supported, ad-free, independent news outlet based out of New Delhi. Support their journalism, here.
