'Enough with India bashing': British journalist praises 'new' India, says it's time to tell positive stories of this 'great nation'

British journalist Sam Stevenson on Sunday said that this is the correct time to put out positive stories about 'new' India which is set to become the $5 trillion economy in the coming years. 

Stevenson, who is the Assistant Editor of the UK-based newspaper Daily Express, said while covering elections here in India, he found out that there are ample of positive stories that can be told about this country.

"It's time to start telling the positive stories of new India and of this great nation on its epic trajectory to becoming a USD 5 trillion economy in the future. And look, there's loads and loads of positive stories that we can be telling from India, and that's what we're here to do," Stevenson told ANI.

In response to a question about whether India is different from how the West portrays it, the journalist mentioned that it's time to stop criticising India.

"I think it's time to say, enough with India bashing down with the anti-India 'Bakwas'. We need to come here and tell the true, positive stories of New India on the ground reporting," he told ANI.

Even after hearing so many stories about religious disparities, Stevenson said that the reality is very different on the ground.

"Unfortunately, a lot of the narratives that exist in London and across Europe are negative stories about India. We're hearing things like religious divisions, but that's not what we've witnessed on the ground," he said.

Calling India a "great and wonderful nation," he said that he's here to improve the British media's coverage of the country.

"We have seen Muslim women in full burqas attending Narendra Modi's rally. We've seen examples of the pluralism of this great and wonderful nation. We're here to level up the British media's coverage of this nation. And we're here to get to the truth, find some real facts and bring them home to London," he said.

Stevenson continued, saying that the perceptions of India across Europe and the West aren't positive.

"This is because we are being fed negative stories from the press," he stressed, adding that "it is a shame because, actually, people need to come here, see it with their own eyes, live it, breathe it, meet the people, speak to people on the ground, and you will be seeing that, new India, global Britain, we can be a force for good," he said.

The British journalist stressed that the two countries share culture, language, heritage, and history.

"The British media are attempting to simplify something that's very complicated. They're saying Modi is anti-Islam. But actually, when you get on the ground and speak to real Muslims, when you speak to Hindus, Sikhs, you will see that India is accepting of all cultures or religions," he stressed. "And that is the absolutely fantastic thing about this place," he added.