Modi in Washington: While Indian media concentrates on spectacle, US media emphasises the fight over democracy.

This week's state visit by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to the United States was contrastively covered by the mainstream media in both nations.

The American news media primarily focused on the purported democratic backsliding in India under the Modi government and its potential influence on Delhi and Washington's bilateral relations, in addition to the normal reporting on bilateral agreements being inked.
Contrarily, the majority of Indian media outlets mostly covered the pomp surrounding Modi's visit.

coverage in American media
Although the United States and India now share a rival in China, the state visit—regarded as the highest expression of bilateral relations between any two nations—became significant.

Before Modi left for this state visit, US news outlets had already run expert comments and analysis on the purported assault on human rights in India under Modi. They emphasised that this had put Biden in a precarious position because he had positioned the two countries' common democratic values as the cornerstone of their bilateral relationship.

The American news media increased their attention on the business side of Modi's visit to emphasise Delhi's value to Washington as a geopolitical counterweight to China. For instance, the purchase of military drones and the agreement between the two nations to produce fighter aircraft engines received extensive coverage in US news media on Thursday.

Nonetheless, US media outlets like The Washington Post continued to report on how Modi's visit was undermining Biden's "democracy vs. autocracy appeal." Several media outlets also noted how Biden was focusing on areas of Delhi and Washington's shared interests while "publicly skirting causes of contention" like Russia's invasion of Ukraine and India's "crackdown on human rights" to make the visit successful.

Also, in contrast to their Indian counterparts, American news outlets made more prominent mention of the dozen US politicians who boycotted Modi's speech to the joint session of the US Congress, the nation's federal legislature. They called for the boycott in response to Modi's alleged poor record on protecting human rights, notably those of minorities in India.