Citing ‘National Interest’ Concerns, Prasar Bharati ‘Threatens’ to Drop PTI Subscription

New Delhi: Public broadcaster Prasar Bharati, in a letter addressed to news agency Press Trust of India (PTI), has reportedly threatened to discontinue its subscription, alleging that its reporting was not in “national interest,” according to sources.

The reported letter comes close on the heels of PTI tweeting a quote by India’s Ambassador in China, Vikram Misri, that contradicted Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s statement that “no one had intruded” into India.

PTI’s tweet on Wednesday said: ‘India hopes China will realise its responsibility in de-escalation and disengaging by moving back to its side of LAC: Indian envoy to China”.

India hopes China will realise its responsibility in de-escalation and disengaging by moving back to its side of LAC: Indian envoy to China

— Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) June 26, 2020

In another tweet, the news agency again quoted the Indian envoy: “China has to stop the practice of transgressing and trying to erect structures on the Indian side of the LAC: Indian envoy to China.”

China has to stop the practice of transgressing and trying to erect structures on the Indian side of the LAC: Indian envoy to China

— Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) June 26, 2020

Both the tweets are being seen as a cause of embarrassment for the Prime Minister amid efforts to de-escalate tension with China over the recent face-off in Ladakh’s Galwan Valley that left 20 Indian soldiers dead.

According to IANS, the tweets were posted by PTI soon after it interviewed Chinese Ambassador Sun Weidong.

“In the controversial interview which was published on June 25, the Chinese diplomat had put the onus to resolve the crisis on India. "The incident was completely instigated by the Indian side and the responsibility does not lie with the Chinese side," PTI had quoted him,” IANS said.

Reports of a “strong letter” being sent to PTI started doing the rounds after some Prasar Bharati officials on Saturday expressed “deep displeasure on anti-national reporting by PTI,” a report in The Wire said.

Asked what the trigger for the “anti national” charge was, a “Prasar Bharati official said “China coverage”. To a follow up on whether this related to PTI’s interviews with the two ambassadors, he said, “Yes””, The Wire report said.

Sources said in the letter, the public broadcaster, which runs Doordarshan and All India Radio, without specifying the news reports, is said to have stated that: “It has come to the attention of Prasar Bharati that recent news coverage by the Press Trust of India (PTI), which was disseminated widely by PTI to its domestic subscribers and prominently shared with foreign entities, was detrimental to national interest while undermining India’s territorial integrity.”

The letter, said sources, goes on to say that PTI’s ”conduct” had made it “no longer tenable for the public service broadcaster to be a patron of PTI as a News Agency”, while noting that it had been alerted “time and again” on editorial “lapses harming public interest.”

Prasar Bharati also said it was reviewing the need for “continued relationship” with PTI on which a decision would be conveyed soon, while pointing out the “huge annual subscription fee” that is paid to the news agency.

Till the time of writing this report, no official reaction from PTI was available.

The news agency, termed as India’s first, was set up in 1905 and is now a non-profit cooperative trust among 500 regional and English newspapers. It has tieups with various Indian and foreign news agencies, such as The Associated Press, Agence France-Presse etc.