As the U.S. ramped up its efforts to ban and block Russian state media network RT globally, sources tell The Hindu that U.S. officials have spoken to the Ministry of External Affairs about joining their actions against what they call “Russian disinformation”, by revoking accreditations and designating their journalists under the “Foreign Missions Act” . However, while the Ministry has been silent on the issue, government officials said that the debate on sanctions is not relevant to India, while a former diplomat said that banning media organisations showed “double standards” by Western countries.
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On Friday (September 13, 2024), U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced further sanctions against RT, claiming the media organisation, that has offices around the world including in India, was the “de facto arm of Russia’s intelligence apparatus”. RT and the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs have denied the charge. In an official response, a senior RT editor accused the U.S. government of “paranoia” and “being terrified of any truly dissenting voice”.
The U.S. State department said it had launched a “joint diplomatic campaign” along with the United Kingdom and Canada to “rally allies and partners around the world to join us in addressing the threat posed by RT and other machinery of Russian disinformation and covert influence”.
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“We urge every ally, every partner to start by treating RT’s activities as they do other intelligence activities by Russia within their borders,” Mr. Blinken said.
Former Indian Ambassador to Russia and France Kanwal Sibal said the U.S.’s actions to curtail and censor Russian media organisations damaged America’s “own values”, even as the U.S. government said it supports freedom of speech.
“This will be viewed as double standards by the Global South that they are trying to target. India will obviously not be responsive to such American pressure,“ said Mr. Sibal, who has contributed columns for the RT’s RT.com website.
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The move, that included designating two individuals and three entities for financial and visa sanctions, follows the general ban by the U.S. and Europe on Russian broadcasters after the Russia-Ukraine war began in February 2022. Last week, another 10 individuals and two entities connected to “Kremlin-backed media operations” including RIA Novosti, RT, TV-Novosti, Ruptly, and Sputnik were sanctioned. The U.S. State department accused them of carrying out “disinformation” operations in the U.S., Germany and other countries and fundraising for the Russian military.
Sources confirmed to The Hindu that the issue had been discussed at a meeting between officials of the U.S. Embassy and the Ministry in Delhi in the past fortnight. In his remarks in Washington, Mr. Blinken also said that he had “instructed U.S. diplomats around the world” to share the evidence that the U.S. alleged it has gathered on RT.
“The Government of the United States defers to the Government of India and the governments of other countries to make their own determination of and accreditation procedures for these entities,” U.S. Embassy Spokesperson Christopher Elms said, adding, however that the U.S. would “welcome all countries in taking similar actions as the United States government has.”
The Ministry declined to comment despite a number of requests. An official said that the matter “does not pertain” to India and pointed out that India does not follow unilateral sanctions that are not approved by the United Nations. This is not the first time that the government has been caught in the U.S.-Russia crossfire over sanctions, such as those over oil imports from Russia, which India has rejected. Last month, however, government officials also censured Russian agencies RT and Sputnik for what they called “misleading” reporting on alleged Indian intelligence “concerns” about U.S. diplomats based in India meeting with Indian Opposition leaders, citing Bangladesh as an example of the U.S.’s “regime change operations” .
The request from the U.S. on sanctions came as U.S. Assistant Secretary Donald Lu was visiting Delhi for a number of high-level meetings to prepare for Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to the U.S., and participation in the Quad Summit hosted by U.S. President Joseph Biden on September 21. The U.S. Embassy declined to comment on whether Mr. Lu had raised the issue during his visit.