Sergio Gor, the U.S. ambassador to India, took a dig at Indian TV news debates, joking that the shows get “crazier” as the evening progresses. He spoke about his experience watching Indian news channels at the Economic Times World Leaders Forum on Aug. 22, saying “I love getting back home and watching Indian TV news shows. The later it gets, the crazier the shows become,” he said.
“At 6 pm you have eight people arguing on the show. At 10 pm, there are 12 people who are all talking at the same time and you can’t hear any one of them really,” he added.
Gor said he initially believed the United States had serious problems with misinformation, but Indian television was worse.
“I used to think we had a fake news problem back home in America,” he said. “But some of the things that get reported here are just nowhere close to the mark.”
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Several users of social media had sharp reactions to Gor’s comments. One of them said the “fourth pillar of Indian democracy” had been reduced to “cheap international entertainment.”
Gor also said during the forum that the Indian Ministry of External Affairs had asked for a “no-questions” arrangement ahead of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s meeting with President Donald Trump at the G7 Summit.
The request was shared with Trump before the meeting, to which he had said “sure, no problem,” but the plan changed immediately after Modi and Trump were done with their initial media briefing, with the president turning to the cameras and asking: “Any questions?”
“And that opened everything up,” Gor said, recalling how the interaction eventually stretched into a 45-minute press session.
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“We were behind the scenes, behind the stage, and at one point it was just the President and I,” Gor recalled, saying Trump had asked him what the Indian side was likely to raise during the meeting and whether it had any specific requests.
Gor said he told Trump that the MEA wanted the media present but preferred no questions.
“I told the President, I said, the Indians prefer no questions. He said, sure, no problem,” the ambassador said, which later culminated in a 45-minute media session.
The meeting between Trump and Modi took place on June 17 on the sidelines of the G7 summit in France. It came amid tensions in the Middle East, including disruptions in the Strait of Hormuz.