No entry for Indian media at naval drill

NEW DELHI: A joint naval exercise in the Bay of Bengal involving the navies of India, US, Japan, Australia, and Singapore, starting today, will be out of bounds for the Indian media.

Sources said journalists are not being taken to cover the drill because the government wants “to downplay the event”, in the backdrop of the N-deal controversy and the Left’s opposition to the drill.

Though there are no official orders from the government on this, the fact is the Indian Navy has decided not to take any Indian journalist for its media coverage. “No permission has been given to travel on the high seas,” according to a senior TV journalist.

However, the American side is learnt to be taking some journalists, “mainly their own”. According to a government source, “those being taken by the American side are primarily embedded journalists”. America’s CNN is believed to be on the list covering the naval exercise.

On whether any order has been issued by the government preventing the media from covering the naval exercise, a senior official in the information and broadcasting (I&B) ministry told DNA, “The I&B ministry is not in the picture at all.

The defence ministry will have to take a call.” Though defence ministry sources maintained “there is no order”, they confirmed that “journalists are not being sent by the Navy.”