Fact Check: Did PM Modi Take Press Questions For First Time Since 2014?

Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressed a press conference along with US President Joe Biden on Thursday.

Several global news outlets and many critics of the Modi government have claimed that Prime Minister Narendra Modi's joint press conference along with US President Joe Biden in Washington was the first open press conference for the Indian PM since he assumed office in 2014. New York Times, in an article, before PM Modi's press conference, said "if Indian prime minister Narendra Modi responds to questions along with President Biden at a news conference on Thursday, it may well be the first time since he was first elected in 2014 to do so."

Similar claims were also made by many others on social media. PM Modi along with US President Biden addressed a joint press conference on Thursday where the two leaders took questions from media as well. During the press conference, a journalist asked PM Modi what steps he was willing to take to improve the rights of Muslims and other minorities in India. Responding to this, PM Modi suggested that India did not need any improvement as the world's largest democracy is being run on the principles of 'Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas, Sabka Vishwas and Sabka Prayas'.

"Our Constitution and our government, and we have proved democracy can deliver. When I say deliver - caste, creed, religion, gender, there is no space for any discrimination (in my government)," said PM Modi.

Prime Minister Modi completely destroyed the motivated question on steps being taken to ‘protect’ rights of Muslims and other minorities. In his response he didn’t mention Muslims or any other denomination, spoke about Constitution, access to Govt resources based on eligibility… pic.twitter.com/mPdXPMZaoI

— Amit Malviya (@amitmalviya) June 22, 2023

Now, coming to the question - was this the first ever press conference of PM Modi? 

Actually, it's not. Former Permanent Representative of India to the United Nations and 1985 batch Indian Foreign Service officer Syed Akbaruddin countered the claim made by the NYT and other platforms. Akbaruddin said that PM Modi had addressed a press conference earlier as well. "Simply untrue...May like to see the video of @POTUS44 (Barack Obama) & PM @narendramodi press conference at Hyderabad House in New Delhi on 25 January 2015," he said on Twitter while sharing the video of the press conference.

Simply untrue

May like to see the video of @POTUS44 & PM @narendramodi press conference at Hyderabad House in New Delhi on 25 January 2015. https://t.co/91OyyORJOJ https://t.co/I5u4ImiSRT

— Syed Akbaruddin (@AkbaruddinIndia) June 22, 2023

Prime Minister Modi is on a state visit to the United States at the invitation of US President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden.