No questions for visiting leaders!

Media interactions with visiting leaders are becoming little more than photo-ops with journalists being given no opportunity to ask questions of the dignitaries. This was also the case during the signing of agreements and media statements Monday at Hyderabad House after talks between Chinese Premier Li Keqiang and Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.

Both Li and Manmohan Singh, after their talks, came to a specially erected marquee on the lawns of Hyderabad House where journalists had been assembled, smiled and clapped as their ministers inked various agreements.

They then read out their respective statements, with Manmohan Singh reading out his first.

Asked why there was no question-and-answer session, an official source said that "It is decided by the PMO (Prime Minister's Office)."

A PMO official said it depends on the foreign dignitary. "We have to think of their comfort, whether they want to take questions."

Since the past few visits by foreign dignitaries, including by British Prime Minister David Cameron, French President Francois Hollande and Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi, the same practice has been followed.

However, Hollande had later held a briefing for the media at the hotel he was staying in.

This is a far cry from the practice earlier of subjecting visiting leaders - presidents, prime ministers and foreign ministers - to questioning by both the host and visiting media, a tradition that is followed in all democracies.

Incidentally, the Chinese have been quite rigid about exposing their leader to the Indian media - which they have been quite wary of and often blame them for compounding bilateral differences. They have asked both FICCI and the Indian Council of World Affairs (ICWA) to restrict the number of journalists to be invited to Li's address at the Taj Palace Hotel Tuesday morning.