Putin arrives in India with a mega megaphone: Russia TV opens India arm with 100-member team

Significantly, this comes amidst a ban on RT by the European Union, announced soon after the start of the Russia-Ukraine war in 2022.

The Moscow-based RT was launched in 2005 as part of a public relations effort by the Russian government to improve the country’s image abroad, and its India arm’s tagline is clear: ‘Not Anti-Western… Just Not Western’.

RT India will start with four daily news programmes in English, and its aim, as put out in a statement, is to boost ties between India and Russia, as well as expand “the growing influence” of the two countries in a multipolar world.

Officials in the Information and Broadcasting Ministry said that since RT is already telecast in India over other networks, and has a pact with state broadcaster Prasar Bharati, it didn’t need a separate licence to operate here. However, the uplinking and downlinking permissions required clearance from the Ministry of External Affairs, Home Ministry and the I&B.

Talks for an India arm of RT first started when Russian First Deputy Prime Minister Denis Manturov met External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar in Moscow in August, for the 26th meeting of the India-Russia Intergovernmental Commission on Trade, Economic, Scientific, Technical and Cultural Cooperation. An official release by Manturov’s office at the time said: “Regarding media cooperation, the First Deputy Prime Minister outlined plans for the Russia Today media holding to launch the RT India television channel in New Delhi by the end of the year.”

The statement by Manturov described the initiative as a significant step in strengthening bilateral cooperation not just in trade and defence but also in the information and media space. “This will allow detailed coverage of events in Russian-Indian relations as well as objectively reflect the growing role of our countries in the modern multipolar world,” he said.

RT International, which has over 20 bureaus in 16 countries, is currently available in India as part of packages offered by 18 major Indian operators, and has a combined potential audience of 675 million viewers, as per the network. Besides, RT has a news-sharing pact with Doordarshan, run by Indian public broadcaster Prasar Bharati, since July 2024.