Standard Group, India High Commission ink editorial content partnership

From left High Commissioner of India to Kenya, Permanent Representative of India to UNEP and UN-Habitat, Ambassador of India to Somalia Dr. Adarsh Swaika with Standard Group Acting CEO Chaacha Mwita during a courtesy visit when they discussed partnerships in digital media training in February 4, 2026 at Standard Group Headquarters, Nairobi. [Kanyiri Wahito, Standard]

Standard Group has entered into a strategic partnership with the Indian High Commission in Kenya for mutual collaboration on various issues.

Key among the issues will be media coverage of events relating to Kenya and India that promote bilateral ties at the High Commission.

It will also include Indian entertainment content for use by KTN TV station and the company's other platforms, including three radio stations and digital platforms.

“I first welcome you warmly not only to Standard Group but also to Kenya since you are four months old at your job. Kenya shares a lot with India, considering their citizens came here to build the railway line and now occupy part of the population of Kenya, who are contributing to the social and economic growth of this country,” said Acting Standard Group chief executive officer Chaacha Mwita. 

“Secondly, India has a legacy of press freedom that is unmatched in the Commonwealth and I have taken time to read some of the judgments made in Indian courts about press freedom and I am sure your presence here brings good tidings for the press in this country.”  

He said Standard Group will be looking forward to improving in covering diplomatic corps events.

The CEO was speaking when he received the High Commissioner of India to Kenya, Dr Adarsh Swaika, who had paid him a courtesy call at Standard Group offices along Mombasa Road, accompanied by Rishabh Reward, Head of Political, Press and Information at the High Commission.

Dr Swaika, who formally presented his credentials as the new High Commissioner of India to Kenya to President William Ruto at State House, Nairobi, on December 1, 2025, said he has seen within a few months that both countries have shared common values of anti-colonialism, freedom of the press and democracy.

“What I feel as an ambassador of a country that has so close links  with Kenya and other nations, extensive people-to-people ties with people of India going back to six generations, I think there should be adequate media projection of what people and governments do,” he said.

The envoy said a lot of things are happening at different levels and it is only the media that can let people know that, and this in the process strengthens bilateral relations between the two countries.

“We also look forward to facilitating media linkages and partnerships between Standard Group and India’s media for capacity building purposes.”

Swaika said there are several upcoming events, including on technology and artificial intelligence (AI), whose coverage can promote bilateral ties between the two countries.

Standard Group Acting Editor-In-Chief John Bundotich said the company shares a history with India, considering it was initially founded as the African Standard in 1902 by Alibhai Mulla Jeevanjee, an Indian merchant.

Also, he said the fact that India is the world's fastest-growing major economy presents a good opportunity for Kenya to learn from it through the media.

“Currently in the country, there is that talk of going the Singapore way and since India is the fastest growing economy in the world allows Kenyan media to collaborate with Indian and its media to cover stories from there,” said Mr Bundotich.

He also said that there are Indian programmes that Kenyans love and which Standard Group will be looking at leveraging on the partnership to get them for its television viewers.

On this, the High Commissioner promised to strike a collaboration between Standard Group and major Indian media houses for news and entertainment content sharing.