Marching on

摘要

Foreign ownership of the press is a hoary Indian taboo. On June 25th the government broke it, allowing foreigners to buy into newspapers and magazines (up to 26% of the equity in news publications and 74% in others). Though long mulled, the announcement looked like first aid for India's battered reputation in international markets. Foreign governments are warning their citizens against travel to India while there is a risk of war with Pakistan, its nuclear armed neighbour―so the invitation to foreign press barons is meant as a signal that India is open for business. It is especially striking because the government has been noisily angry about a recent article in Time magazine portraying the prime minister as too old and sick to be trusted with nuclear weapons.