The Indian leader’s trip was aimed at boosting economic ties, but was overshadowed by questions on democracy and a racist cartoon
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi wrapped up a five‑nation European tour this week with upgraded Nordic partnerships and new trade, security and research agreements. Yet a single incident in Oslo once again raised uncomfortable questions about how the West sees India.
Modi embarked on a six-day European tour, signaling India is keen on diversifying its partnerships amid global disruptions caused by the US-Israeli war on Iran.
After a brief stop in Abu Dhabi, where he signed a massive infrastructure and energy deal, Modi proceeded to the Netherlands, Sweden, Norway, and Italy, with an itinerary running from May 15 to 20. The mission was to deepen India’s partnership with Europe following the recently concluded India-EU Free Trade Agreement which, according to Ursula von der Leyen, will be formally signed and operationalized by the end of the year.
Why did Modi go to Europe?
The culmination of Modi’s six-day tour was supposed to be the top-level Nordic summit in Oslo, where India and the five Nordic countries (Norway, Sweden, Finland, Iceland, and Denmark) would discuss ways to expand strategic and trade ties.
According to a statement by India’s Ministry of External Affairs, the summit would “impart a more strategic dimension to India’s relationship with the Nordic countries, especially in technology and innovation, green transition and renewable energy, sustainability, blue economy, defense, space and the Arctic.”
In The Hague, Modi met Dutch King Willem-Alexander, along with his wife, Queen Maxima, discussing defense issues, semiconductors, green hydrogen, and water management. In Stockholm, Modi met the European Commission president, Ursula von der Leyen.
In Norway, the third edition of the India-Nordic summit took place. In 2024, India signed a trade and economic partnership agreement which eliminates the majority of customs duties on industrial products with Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, and Switzerland. The pact also has a commitment to invest $100 billion in India, which is expected to lead to 1 million new jobs over the next 15 years.
This time around, energy was one of the top issues on the agenda as India, one of the major global importers of oil and gas, is facing an increasing impact from the Middle East crisis on its energy supplies.
Modi pointed out that bilateral trade between India and the Nordic nations had increased fourfold in the past ten years, and that investment from the Nordic nations into India had gone up by an impressive 200%.
PM @narendramodi participated in the 3rd India-Nordic Summit in Oslo. It reflected the expanding scope and growing strength of India’s partnership with the Nordic region. The leaders discussed cooperation in sustainability, innovation, clean energy, emerging technologies and… pic.twitter.com/xXUO1YsgZF
— PMO India (@PMOIndia) May 19, 2026The Norwegian king, Harald V, awarded Modi his country’s highest civilian award, the Royal Norwegian Order of Merit Grand Cross, making it the 32nd such international recognition bestowed upon him and the second on this particular tour, after the Swedish Royal Order of the Polar Star.
But those were not the issues that made headlines during Modi’s stay in Oslo.
What Happened in Oslo?
It all started on Tuesday, when a video of Svendsen Helle Lyng, a journalist for the Norwegian newspaper Dagsavisen, started doing the rounds on social media. In the video, Lyng was seen throwing a question to Modi just as he finished his joint press statement with his Norwegian counterpart, Jonas Gahr Store. “Prime Minister Modi, why don’t you take some questions from the freest press in the world?” she shouted across the room. Lyng then seemed to have followed Modi to the elevator.
Primeminister of India, Narendra Modi, would not take my question, I was not expecting him to. Norway has the number one spot on the World Press Freedom Index, India is at 157th, competing with Palestine, Emirates & Cuba. It is our job to question the powers we cooperate… pic.twitter.com/vZHYZnAvev
— Helle Lyng (@HelleLyngSvends) May 18, 2026In another video, Lyng could be heard asking the Norwegian PM to answer questions from the Indian press: “Why don’t you take questions from Indian journalists? Show them how we do this in Norway.”
The Indian mission in Norway shared Lyng’s post on X and invited her to a press briefing, saying she was “most welcome” to ask her questions there. At the briefing, she pressed the Indian foreign ministry’s secretary, Sibi George, on why should Norway have trust in India.
“Why should we trust you (India)? Can you try to stop the human rights violations that goes on in your country?” she asked.
George delivered a longish response, delving into India’s ancient traditions and history, highlighting the country’s vastness and complexity, which is often misunderstood by foreign observers. He argued that critics lack an understanding of the country’s actual scale, noting that the capital city alone has at least 200 television channels operating in English, Hindi, and various other languages. He also dismissed criticisms of India’s democratic record, pointing out such opinions often rely on selective reports from “godforsaken, ignorant NGOs.”
Journalist: Why should Norway trust India? Will you stop human rights violations in your country?Amb. Sibi George: *starts to answer*Journalist: *interrupts*Amb. George: No, you asked me a question. Let me answer it pic.twitter.com/hjT4dC75tW
— Shashank Mattoo (@MattooShashank) May 19, 2026Lyng’s posts on X set off a storm in India. Social media erupted, Western outlets praised her, and Indian TV channels hauled her on air for tough questioning.
#TheBuckStopsHere with @GaurieD #NDTVExclusive | Is racism & stereotyping what masquerades as journalism in Norway?Norwegian journalist Helle Lyng (@HelleLyngSvends) responds to questions on press freedom and racism in media narratives in Norway. pic.twitter.com/utCojsylf1
— NDTV (@ndtv) May 20, 2026But then the matter got even worse.
Why Indians called out a ‘racist’ cartoon
Aftenposten, Norway’s largest newspaper, published an opinion piece by journalist Frank Rossavik. The article includes a cartoon of Modi as a snake charmer. The headline says, “A clever and slightly annoying man.” The cartoon has set social media on fire.
The cartoon was originally published on May 16 but came to light only after Modi’s visit to Oslo. Numerous social media comments call the cartoon and the opinion piece “derogatory,” “racist” and “utterly disgraceful.”
“[The] West has completely run out of structural arguments. When they cannot beat India on GDP growth rates, cannot match India’s digital public infrastructure, and cannot stop India from anchoring global supply chains, their only remaining tool is to pull out a racist drawing of a snake charmer,” wrote one X user.
Shocking. Racist. Derogatory.Norway’s largest broadsheet newspaper Aftenposten brazens it out with a shocking cartoon depicting Indian PM @narendramodi as a Snake Charmer with the headline: “A sneaky and slightly annoying man”.They can’t digest India’s rise and success. Pity! pic.twitter.com/g905xHNIWm
— Aditya Raj Kaul (@AdityaRajKaul) May 19, 2026Commentators in India also pointed out that the image chosen for the cartoon is particularly offensive because it reflects on Modi’s famous 2014 statement that India is no longer a nation of “snake charmers” but a modern nation of “mouse charmers,” driven by technology and innovation. The snake charmer is one of the oldest racist colonial clichés used against India, and it not only mocks the leader but the nation, many commenters pointed out.
“How many more decades will the West continue to look at India through the exhausted lens of snake charmers, cows, fakirs and colonial fantasy before somebody in its supposedly enlightened liberal establishment realizes the joke stopped being funny a century ago?” Stela Dey wrote in her column for The Print.
Why is the West obsessed with India’s democracy?
Developed countries have long commented on the state of democracy in India, the world’s most populous democracy, highlighting issues related to press freedom and the treatment of minorities. The US Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) and the US State Department consistently call out India in their reports for alleged “ongoing and egregious religious freedom violations.”
New Delhi has repeatedly rejected such reports, calling them “biased.”
When EU chief von der Leyen traveled to New Delhi in February this year and pressed India to agree in general on a deal with the bloc – which she calls “the mother of all deals” – European commentators could not refrain from raising the question of India’s “democratic backsliding” as a stumbling block to expanding this potential cooperation.
“Europe is very Eurocentric in its vision. They view everything from the European lens of how it helps their national interest. So they were not very supportive of issues of the Global South, of strategic autonomy, of the path of development. They have a kind of method of intervening in other countries, which India and countries of the Global South do not,” Professor Anuradha Chenoy told RT India, commenting on the Norwegian episode during Modi’s European tour.
'EU Has A Trust Deficit With Everyone Apart From Themselves' - Professor Anuradha Chenoy Europe is very euro-centric in its vision and they seem everything through a European lens of how it helps their national interest, she tells RT India Presenter @osamashaab. pic.twitter.com/TEx8LZ1Iju
— RT_India (@RT_India_news) May 19, 2026Meanwhile, back in Norway, some commentators, too, questioned why local media chose to mock the leader of a nation of 1.4 billion people and the world’s fourth largest economy.
“Unless you believe democracy only fits a handful of small, homogenous, ultra-rich Western nations, India is the miracle of democracy. The large, complex, linguistically and religiously diverse nation with many poor people – which has established a vibrant democracy and is much less violent than Europe or America,” wrote former Norwegian minister Erik Solheim.
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