Published: July 9, 2026 4:47 pm
Author: RT
Western media outlets base their perception of the country on isolated incidents and miss the big picture, Smita Prakash told RT India
India is no longer shy about its aspirations as a rising power, which is causing unease among many global powers, a top anchor told RT India.
Western media reporting portrays India in a particular way, Asia News International (ANI) editor Smita Prakash told RT India in an exclusive interview.
Regarding India’s aspirations as a rising global power, she said, “We are no longer shy about it. When I began my career 36 years ago, we were shy about it. We were embarrassed about it. We were told again and again that we are a third-world country.”
“Today, I don’t see Indians apologetic about wanting to be a growing power. So everybody in the world feels threatened by a country that wants to be a growing power,” she told Runjhun Sharma in the latest episode of India, Russia and the World.
India is the world’s fourth largest economy by GDP and the International Monetary Fund said in a report this week that it remains the fastest-growing major economy despite the macroeconomic headwinds.
The West has created groupings to convey a false impression of egalitarianism, she said, naming the G20 as an example. “We want these developing countries. We want to hear your story. We want to be part of your economy too… But no, nobody likes a growing India.”
Foreign media outlets “are likely to get the India story wrong” as they base their perception of the country on isolated incidents, Prakash said.
She noted that budgets have shrunk for foreign media outlets. “Unless you travel on the ground and cover it, you’re not covering news,” she said, adding that there are “layers and layers” for a vast country like India.
“But you don’t want to see that manufacturing sector. You don’t want to see that there is a growth story. You want to only see that India is ripe for revolution because the youth are disaffected, because cheating is happening during the medical entrance exam,” she said, referring to the recent leak of questions for a national medical entrance test.
