India’s Foreign Minister, S. Jaishankar, has sparked controversy with his comments on India’s World Press Freedom Index ranking.
The index, which is published annually by Reporters Without Borders, ranks 180 countries based on their level of press freedom. India was ranked 161 in the latest edition.
Jaishankar commented that India has the most “uncontrollable” press, drawing criticism from journalists and free speech advocates who argue that press freedom is essential to a healthy democracy.
He said, “I was amazed at our number. I thought we had the most uncontrollable press, and somebody is getting something fundamentally wrong.”
He also referred to India’s position of 161 out of 180 on the World Press Freedom Index as “mind games” and laughed off the rankings while comparing it with Afghanistan, “Afghanistan was freer than us. Can you imagine? Look, these are all I mean, I see the democracy index, freedom index, religious freedom index, and press freedom index.”
