NEW DELHI: US President Joe Biden was welcomed warmly by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday ahead of a G20 summit in New Delhi, but journalists were blocked from covering the key meeting.
Media access to such bilateral encounters on the sidelines of major summits like the G20 is always tightly controlled, but it is rarely blocked entirely.
The incident comes after protracted negotiations were needed before Indian officials agreed to Modi taking one question from US reporters at a press briefing when he made a state visit to Washington in June — the Indian leader rarely if ever takes questions from foreign media.
The White House “pool” of journalists accompanying Biden usually attends the start of face-to-face meetings such as Friday’s, hearing preliminary statements, taking a few photographs — and asking some questions.
“The President believes the free press is the pillar of our democracy,” White House spokeswoman Karine Jean-Pierre told journalists on board the airplane taking Biden to India, saying they were doing all they could to secure media access.
After landing, Biden headed to the Indian leader’s residence, but journalists traveling with him were told to remain outside.
“We in the US government work hard to ensure and obtain access for US journalists to everything the President does,” National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan had said on board Air Force One.
“What we can pledge to you is what’s in our control — which is ensuring that we are transparent and comprehensive in our readout of what the two leaders discussed.”
At the Washington press conference with Biden in June, the one question to Modi came from Wall Street Journal reporter Sabrina Siddiqui, who asked the Hindu nationalist about accusations of repression of Muslims in India and the country’s record on human rights.
“In India’s democratic values, there is absolutely no discrimination, neither on basis of caste, creed, or age or any kind of geographic location,” Modi replied.
Siddiqui was subsequently subjected to “intense online harassment,” the White House Correspondents’ Association said in a statement, “including from people with ties to the prime minister’s political party.”
Journalists barred as India’s Modi welcomes Biden
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Journalists barred as India’s Modi welcomes Biden
- Media access to such bilateral encounters on the sidelines of major summits like the G20 is always tightly controlled, but it is rarely blocked entirely
- After landing, Biden headed to the Indian leader’s residence, but journalists traveling with him were told to remain outside
Two high-speed trains derail in Spain, police sources say 21 people killed
- The accident happened near Adamuz, in Cordoba province. So far, 21 people have been confirmed dead by police
MADRID: A high-speed train derailed and smashed into another oncoming train in southern Spain on Sunday, pushing the second train off the tracks in a collision that police sources confirmed to Reuters had killed at least 21 people.
The accident happened near Adamuz, in Cordoba province. So far, 21 people have been confirmed dead by police, with state broadcaster Television Espanola adding that 100 people had been injured, 25 seriously. The driver of one of the trains, which was traveling from Madrid to Huelva, was among those who died, the TV station added.
“The Iryo 6189 Malaga — (to Madrid) train has derailed from the track at Adamuz, crashing onto the adjacent track. The (Madrid) to Huelva train which was traveling on the adjacent track has also derailed,” said Adif, which runs the rail network, in a social media post.
Adif said the accident happened at 6:40 p.m. (1740 GMT), about 10 minutes after the Iryo train left Cordoba heading toward Madrid.
Iryo is a private rail operator, majority-owned by Italian state-controlled railway group Ferrovie dello Stato. The train involved was a Freccia 1000 train which was traveling between Malaga and Madrid, a spokesperson for Ferrovie dello Stato said.
The company said in a statement that it deeply regretted what had happened and had activated all emergency protocols to work closely with the relevant authorities to manage the situation.
The second train was operated by Renfe, which also did not respond to a request for comment.
Adif has suspended all rail services between Madrid and Andalusia.
HORRIFIC SCENE
The Iryo train had more than 300 passengers on board, while the Renfe train had around 100.
Paco Carmona, Cordoba fire chief, told TVE the first train heading to Madrid from Malaga had been evacuated.
The other train’s carriages were badly damaged, he said, with twisted metal and seats. “There are still people trapped. We don’t know how many people have died and the operation is concentrating on getting people out of areas which are very narrow,” he said. “We have to remove the bodies to reach anyone who is still alive. It is proving to be a complicated task.”
Transport Minister Oscar Puente said he was following events from rail operator Adif’s headquarters in Madrid.
“The latest information is very serious,” he posted on X. “The impact was terrible, causing the first two carriages of the Renfe train to be thrown off the track. The number of victims cannot be confirmed at this time. The most important thing now is to help the victims.”
The mayor of Adamuz, Rafael Moreno, told El Pais newspaper that he had been among the first to arrive at the scene of the accident alongside the local police and saw what he believed to be a badly lacerated body several meters from the accident site.
“The scene is horrific,” he said. “I don’t think they were on the same track, but it’s not clear. Now the mayors and residents of the area are focused on helping the passengers.”
CALLS FOR MEDICS
Images on local television showed a reception center set up for passengers in the town of Adamuz, population 5,000, with locals coming and going with food and blankets amid nighttime temperatures of around 42 degrees Fahrenheit (6 degrees Celsius).
A woman named Carmen posted on X that she had been on board the Iryo train to Madrid. “Ten minutes after departing (from Cordoba) the train started to shake a lot, and it derailed from coach 6 behind us. The lights went out.”
Footage posted by another Iryo train passenger, also on X, showed an Iryo staffer in a fluorescent jacket instructing passengers to remain in their seats in the darkened carriages, and those with first aid training to keep watch over fellow passengers. He also urged people to maintain mobile phone batteries to be able to use their torches when they disembarked.
Salvador Jimenez, a journalist for RTVE who was on board the Iryo train, shared images showing the nose of the rear carriage of the train lying on its side, with evacuated passengers sitting on the side of the carriage facing upwards.
Jimenez told TVE by phone from beside the stricken trains that passengers had used emergency hammers to smash the windows and climb out, and they had seen two people taken out of the overturned carriages on stretchers.
“There’s a certain uncertainty about when we’ll get to Madrid, where we’ll spend the night, we’ve had no message from the train company yet,” he said. “It’s very cold but here we are.”
