New Delhi, May 19 -- Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Norway visit, as part of his 5-nation Europe tour, has courted controversy over the lack of media interactions.

As PM Modi issued a joint press statement with his Norwegian counterpart Jonas Gahr Støre in Oslo on Monday, journalists from the "freest press in the world" criticised the Indian prime minister for not taking questions. This also spilled into an MEA presser on the prime minister's visit later, where Indian officials faced questions over "trust" and "human rights".

Helle Lyng, a commentator in a Norwegian newspaper, in a post on social media platform X wrote, "Prime minister of India, Narendra Modi, would not take my question, I was not expecting him to." She said:

"Nor...