'The BBC does not have an agenda,' says its chief after India tax search

London: BBC Director-General Tim Davie has told staff in India that the British broadcaster will not be put off from reporting without fear or favour and that it does not have an agenda, BBC News reported on Thursday.

"I'd like to be clear: the BBC does not have an agenda - we are driven by purpose," Davie said in an email to staff, the report said, following searches by Indian tax authorities at BBC offices in New Delhi and Mumbai.

Mr Davie said the BBC would help staff do their jobs effectively and safely.

"Nothing is more important than our ability to report without fear or favour," he said in the email.

INDIA-INTERNET-POLITICS-MODI — People watch the BBC documentary "India: The Modi Question", on a screen installed at the Marine Drive junction under the direction of the district Congress committee, in Kochi on January 24, 2023. File Photo: Arun CHANDRABOSE / AFP

"Our duty to our audiences around the world is to pursue the facts through independent and impartial journalism, and to produce and distribute the very best creative content. We won't be put off from that task.”

That tax probe came after India reacted angrily to a documentary by the British broadcaster about Prime Minister Narendra Modi's leadership as chief minister of the western state of Gujarat during riots in 2002.

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