NEW DELHI, 27 June — Debate raged in India yesterday over the government’s decision to allow foreign investment in print media, with top editors saying the move would help jump start the economy but other industry actors warning of risks to national security. Two unidentified newspaper tycoons from the Gulf were the first to express interest in a stake in the India’s print media. Though details of the business proposition were kept secret, the moves were learned to have come from the UAE.
In comments splashed across newspapers, a majority of editors and media pundits welcomed the move but some expressed serious reservations.
Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee’s Cabinet on Tuesday authorized foreign investment of up to 26 percent in print media companies, breaking a decades-old ban brought in out of concern over the impact on editorial policies.
India has since 1955 required that all newspapers and magazines printed in the country be wholly owned by Indian citizens. Moves to change the regulation have been fiercely opposed by much of the political class and the media in recent years.
Pratap Pawar, chief of the Indian Newspaper Society, which looks after the interests of most national and regional dailies, said the decision “compromised national security”.
“The newspaper industry has been kept out of bounds for the foreigners because of its strategic importance,” he said. Pawar said the entry of foreign interests might jeopardize relations between the state and the press. But a group of top editors welcomed the decision, charging that criticism based on national security was politically motivated.
They noted the government has insisted that all print media keep Indian nationals in top editorial positions. “This (criticism) is wholly misplaced and we welcome the safeguards the government has put in place,” the editors said in a statement.
“Fresh inflow of foreign equity will also benefit the Indian economy. In addition, a larger international media presence in India will help present the Indian viewpoint effectively to the global community,” they said. The editors signing the statement included Arun Poorie of India Today news magazine, Shekhar Gupta of The Indian Express, Chandan Mitra of The Pioneer, Narendra Mohan of the Hindi-language daily Dainik Jagran and the Business Standard’s T.N. Ninan.
But Ramoji Rao, baron of Eenadu Group said the opening to foreign investment was dangerous in the current international situation. Criticism of the move has also come from across the political spectrum, with the main opposition Congress party saying foreign investment in media was not favored by parliament. Harkishan Singh Surjeet of the Communist Party of India (Marxist), the main left-wing party, said: “It is a very dangerous game the government is playing by handing over print media to imperialist forces who have been carrying out malicious propaganda.”
A key ally of Vajpayee’s coalition, the Telugu Desam Party, also said the decision was against the “national interest”. But the Cabinet decision does not require parliamentary approval and the government has thus been able to sidestep major political opposition to its decision.
