PM Modi has given relatively few extended interviews to international media compared to many other world leaders, making each individual appearance a more closely scrutinised event. This article covers several of the most notable, including one that drew specific criticism over its format.
The 2024 Newsweek Cover Story
Newsweek published a cover story on Modi, headlined “Modi’s Moment,” on April 11, 2024, ahead of that year’s general election, structured as a question-and-answer format interview. According to Business Standard’s coverage, Modi told the magazine, “When I am doing something, I am 100 per cent involved and engrossed in that task,” and separately cited specific tourism data on Jammu and Kashmir, stating, “Over 21 million tourists visited Jammu and Kashmir in 2023,” using the interview to directly counter narratives about instability in the region following Article 370’s abrogation. The interview’s format itself drew specific criticism from outlets including The Wire and ThePrint, which characterised it as appearing pre-scripted, with no live follow-up questions allowed, a format critique that applies to the interview’s journalistic process rather than the substance of what Modi actually said.
The 2019 TIME Cover Story
TIME magazine’s May 2019 cover story on Modi, published during that year’s general election campaign, took a considerably more critical editorial approach than the later Newsweek piece, with a cover headline that read “India’s Divider in Chief,” according to coverage by The Quint of the controversy the piece generated. It’s worth noting this TIME piece functioned primarily as an editorial and journalistic assessment of Modi’s leadership rather than a direct interview built around his own quoted responses, a distinction that separates it from the more conventional interview format the Newsweek piece and the Wall Street Journal interview covered below both followed. The TIME cover generated substantial domestic Indian political controversy at the time, with BJP supporters characterising the framing as unfair and reflecting Western media bias.
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The 2023 Wall Street Journal Interview
Ahead of his June 2023 state visit to the United States, Modi gave an interview to the Wall Street Journal, published June 20, 2023, in which he stated, according to coverage carried by ThePrint via Reuters, “India deserves a much higher, deeper and wider profile and a role,” directly making the case for India’s elevated global standing, and separately described the state of US-India relations using the specific phrase “unprecedented trust,” a characterisation that set the tone for the high-profile state visit and Congressional address, covered in our companion article, that followed shortly after.
Why Modi Gives Relatively Few International Interviews
Modi’s approach to international media differs notably from some other world leaders in its relative infrequency, with formal, extended interviews to international outlets remaining comparatively rare events across his tenure rather than a routine, regular occurrence, a pattern that arguably increases the news value and scrutiny each individual interview receives precisely because of its relative rarity, since journalists and commentators have fewer comparable recent appearances to weigh any single interview’s specific quotes and framing against.
The Pattern Across These Different Appearances
Looking at these interviews collectively, a consistent pattern emerges in how Modi has used international media appearances specifically timed around major political or diplomatic moments, the Newsweek interview ahead of the 2024 election, the Wall Street Journal interview ahead of his 2023 US state visit, using each appearance to advance a specific, timely narrative rather than engaging with international media on a more continuous, ongoing basis, a strategic approach to media engagement that treats each interview as a deliberately timed communication opportunity rather than routine press access.
The 2023 Le Figaro Interview Ahead of Bastille Day
Ahead of serving as chief guest at France’s Bastille Day military parade in July 2023, the first Indian Prime Minister to hold that role, Modi gave an interview to the French newspaper Le Figaro, in which he discussed the India-France strategic partnership and defence cooperation, according to coverage of the visit carried by Indian news outlets summarising the French publication’s interview. The timing again followed the same pattern already visible in the Newsweek and Wall Street Journal appearances: a major international media interview deliberately scheduled just ahead of a significant, high-profile diplomatic occasion, in this case a state visit that also included France awarding Modi its highest honour, the Grand Cross of the Legion of Honour.
What These Interviews Reveal About Modi’s Communication Strategy
Taken together with the Bastille Day interview, the pattern across Modi’s international media appearances becomes even clearer: each interview is closely coupled to a specific, scheduled diplomatic milestone, a state visit, an election, an award ceremony, rather than functioning as routine, ongoing media access of the kind more commonly offered by leaders who hold regular press conferences or frequent unstructured interview sessions. This tightly controlled approach to international media engagement means each individual quote from these interviews tends to receive close scrutiny precisely because comparable recent statements are relatively scarce, reinforcing why accurate sourcing and context matter significantly when any of these specific quotes circulate afterward.
Bottom Line
Modi’s relatively infrequent interviews with international media have each carried outsized significance, from the 2024 Newsweek cover story, which drew format criticism despite its substantive content on leadership and Kashmir tourism, to TIME’s more critical 2019 “India’s Divider in Chief” cover story, to the 2023 Wall Street Journal interview specifically timed ahead of his US state visit, where he described “unprecedented trust” between the two countries, together reflecting a consistent pattern of using international media appearances as deliberately timed communication tools around major political and diplomatic moments rather than routine, ongoing press engagement.
Disclaimer: This article is based on publicly available interview transcripts and news reports listed below. It is written for general informational purposes and does not represent an official statement from the Government of India, Newsweek, TIME, or the Wall Street Journal.
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