REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, NEW DELHI - Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi took tea, but no questions, on Saturday at his first staged meeting with the Indian press since coming to power five months ago.

Modi said he wanted to strengthen ties with journalists and thanked them for reporting on a 'Clean India' campaign he launched recently by taking a broom to a rubbish-strewn street in New Delhi.

"The prime minister cannot pick up the broom alone," Modi told invited journalists in New Delhi. "You have turned your pen into a broom, and I think this is a huge service."

The 64-year-old premier has made extensive use of campaign speeches, glitzy policy launches and social media to propagate his message - he has 7.3 million followers on Twitter.