New Delhi: The Editors Guild of India (EGI) on Sunday called the stand-offs between Indian government officials and European press “embarrassing” and said that it was “regrettable” that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had not held a press conference in over a decade of power.The Guild was referring to stand-offs prompted by Modi’s refusal to take questions from journalists in the Netherlands and Norway. “Norway and the Netherlands are number 1 and 2 in the World Press Freedom Index, respectively. India, on the other hand, despite the manifest cultural differences with the Western world as pointed out by an angry Secretary, Ministry of External Affairs, in response to the Norwegian journalist’s question, is at an abysmal 157 out of 180 countries,” the Guild’s statement highlighted.While acknowledging the lack of awareness about India displayed by the Western press at times, the Guild said that “they were right about the need for journalists to ask questions in a democracy.” In a press conference organised by India after the controversy broke out, MEA’s Secretary (West) Sibi George had claimed that the questions directed at Modi during his visit stemmed from the journalists’ personal ignorance and lack of understanding.“It is a regrettable fact that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has not addressed a single open press conference during his more than a decade in power,” the statement further added.The Guild also highlighted the increasing tolerance of the Union and various state governments towards being questioned by the media. “Media restrictions hurt our economy and our society,” it said.The EGI urged the government to stop treating the media as an adversary for merely doing its job. “The EGI calls on the government to refrain from treating the media as an adversary merely for doing what it is supposed to do – hold those in power accountable,” it said.