Two Indian journalists - Snehesh Alex Philip of Press Trust of India and Meena Menon from Hindu newspaper are told to leave the country within a week without giving any reason. "As a general principle, we support the ability of journalists to freely report on countries around the world, every country, and that would include Pakistan and that would include Indian journalists in Pakistan and Pakistani journalists in India. So that would be our general view, but I don't know the specifics of the case," said Jay Carney, White House Press Secretary . When asked about the US assessment of the freedom of the press in Pakistan, Carney said there are harrowing reports prepared by international bodies that monitor the circumstances confronting journalists around the world.
"And it is often worth noting that in a country like the United States, where we rightly debate issues related to freedom of the press, that there are places around the world where the attempts to squelch that freedom too often include homicide, murder of journalists, and other steps that are taken to silence free and independent journalists and prevent them from reporting on the facts around the world," concluded Carney.
