New Delhi: India had just one request ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and US President Donald Trump’s meeting two months ago – that the press not be given an opportunity to ask them questions, Washington’s ambassador Sergio Gor said.Trump initially agreed but later went on to solicit questions from journalists – all the while seated next to Modi, who avoids unscripted press interactions – regardless, Gor recalled on Saturday (August 22).Gor’s revelation comes not long after Modi’s unwillingness to participate in open press conferences was foregrounded once again during his foreign trips to Europe and Oceania, where the local media raised the issue with the MEA’s travelling delegations.At the Economic Times World Leaders Forum here on Saturday Gor made his remarks upon being asked what he has done to smoothen the friction in bilateral ties seen since Trump assumed office for a second term.Shortly before Modi and Trump’s press interaction in Evian, France on June 17 – their first face-to-face meeting in 16 months – Gor recalled the president asked him if the Indian government had made any requests.“And the MEA had one ask,” Gor said. “It was, ‘let’s bring in the media, let’s not do a full press conference, no questions’. And so I told the president, ‘the Indians prefer no questions’. He said ‘sure, no problem’.”But right after the two leaders finished making their remarks – Modi read his from a piece of paper – the first thing that Trump did was to solicit questions from the large press contingent present there anyway while sitting next to Modi.“That opened everything up … And one of the things that they asked him was exactly what you just asked me. And the thing that the president said is, ‘as long as my friend, Prime Minister Modi is there, India will get what they need’,” Gor continued.Trump had fielded all the questions from reporters during that interaction as no one asked Modi anything. Asked about US Navy strikes on commercial vessels in West Asia – one of which killed three Indian mariners – the president shrugged the incident off, saying that seafaring “is a rough profession”.A month earlier, Modi’s refusal to do press conferences as well as the deterioration in India’s press freedom had re-entered the spotlight during his visit to Europe, where reporters in Amsterdam and Oslo asked the MEA’s diplomats about it.This included the Norwegian journalist Helle Lyng, who had directly asked Modi if he would like to take questions “from the freest press in the world” – though the PM did not respond to her. Later Lyng attended a press conference held by Indian diplomats in Oslo, precipitating a tense interaction between her and the MEA’s secretary (west) Sibi George.Secretary (east) Rudrendra Tandon was also asked why Modi did not hold a press conference during his visit to New Zealand. This, the official claimed, is because “the Indian electorate are predominantly rural folk who want direct contact” and “don’t like being spoken to through intermediaries”.Three years prior, Modi did take media questions during his bilateral visit to Washington in June 2023. At that time, the AP reported, the Indian side had “agreed to the event only the day before”, after “administration officials told Modi’s advisers that taking questions from the media was a standard part of how White House state visits are conducted”.