New Delhi: Government sources have called US Ambassador Sergio Gor’s remarks on India-US media protocol “normal practice,” Times Now has learnt.
The clarification comes after Gor said on Saturday that India had specifically asked the US administration not to hold a media interaction following the bilateral meeting between on the sidelines of the G7 Summit in France in June.
The sources told Times Now that discussions regarding arrangements for public appearances of leaders are normal practice ahead of any VVIP visit. They further added that the Indian side communicated its standard practice for such visits for the press conference attended by PM Modi and the US President.
Gor said Trump initially agreed to India’s request but later invited questions from reporters, turning the interaction into a 45-minute press conference with PM Modi by his side. The bilateral meeting between took place on June 17 on the sidelines of the G7 summit in Evian-les-Bains, France.
Recalling the sequence of events, Gor stated that he held a brief conversation with Trump prior to the interaction.
“We were behind the scenes, behind the stage, and at one point it was just the president and I, and he asked me, he goes, what the Indians are going to raise. We went over some topics,” Gor said.
“And he said, do they have any asks? And the MEA had one ask. He said, and it was, let’s bring in the media, but let’s not do a full press conference,” the ambassador added.
Gor noted that he directly conveyed the preference outlined by the Indian side to Trump. “I told the president, I said, the Indians prefer no questions. He said, sure, no problem,” Gor said.
The interaction subsequently commenced with media personnel and technical crews present in the room. Gor noted that approximately 50 cameras were set up as PM Modi and Trump sat across from one another to deliver their preliminary statements.
“So the meeting starts, the press comes in, there must have been 50 cameras, the president is sitting here, the prime minister is sitting there, they both speak for a few minutes,” he said.
However, immediately after the conclusion of the opening statements, Trump addressed the assembled reporters and asked, “Any questions?”
“And that opened everything up,” the ambassador said, describing the interaction as turning into “a 45-minute press conference” where “everything was on the table”.