An Indian official on Monday schooled a Norwegian journalist after she repeatedly interrupted Indian diplomats. MEA Secretary (West) Sibi George gave a firm response to the journalist who even walked away once during the interaction. After the reporter asked the diplomats why India should be “trusted” on issues of press freedom, minority rights, and human rights, the diplomat called the reports selectively published by “ignorant NGOs” without understanding the country’s scale and complexity. PM is on a five nation visit including Norway.
“You know how many stories are up here [in India]. We have a lot of breaking news coming every day in the evening. At least 200 TV channels in Delhi alone, in English, Hindi and multiple languages. People have no understanding of the scale of India. They [India’s critics] read one or two news reports published by some godforsaken, ignorant NGOs and then come and ask questions,” the senior diplomat said.
.@AmbSibiGeorge schools an extremely inconsequential and ignorant reporter who is clearly engagement farming.
Her question- “Why should we trust you?” ” Will the PM take critical questions from the Indian Press?”
गुर्दा उखाड़ दिए! pic.twitter.com/fvaTtsBoaP
— Rohit Sharma 🇺🇸🇮🇳 (@DcWalaDesi) May 19, 2026
The MEA Secretary (West) said India’s Constitution guarantees fundamental rights to all citizens and provides legal remedies in cases of rights violations. Highlighting India’s democratic values, he said the country ensured equal voting rights for women from the time of independence.
George further stated that India believes in equality and human rights, adding that the right to vote and change governments remains the strongest example of democratic freedom.
He said, “We have a constitution which guarantees the rights of the people, fundamental rights of the people. We have, you know, we have equal rights for the women of our country, which is very important. In 1947, we gave the freedom to vote for our women. We together, we won the freedom together and they won itself. Many countries I know, the voting right for women came after several decades after India gave that freedom. You know, this, because we believe in equality, we believe in human rights. And what is the best example of human rights? The right to change government, the right to vote. And that is what is happening in India. We are so proud of that.”
(With inputs from ANI)
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Zubair Amin is a Senior Journalist at NewsX with over seven years of experience in reporting and editorial work. He has written for leading national and international publications, including Foreign Policy Magazine, Al Jazeera, The Economic Times, The Indian Express, The Wire, Article 14, Mongabay, News9, among others. His primary focus is on international affairs, with a strong interest in US politics and policy. He also writes on West Asia, Indian polity, and constitutional issues. Zubair tweets at zubaiyr.amin
