'Hypocrisy Towards Freedom Of Speech': India Slams Canada For Blocking Australian News Outlet After Coverage Of Jaishankar's Press Conference

India has slammed Canada's decision to block social media accounts and pages of an Australian news outlet after its coverage of a press conference of External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and his Australian counterpart, Penny Wong.

India branded this move as a glaring example of Canada's 'hypocrisy' towards freedom of speech.

In the course of his visit to Australia, which concluded on Thursday, Jaishankar met Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and led the 15th session of the Foreign Ministers' Framework Dialogue alongside Wong.

Asked about the social media handles of Australia Today being blocked in Canada, Ministry of External Affairs Spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said on Thursday, "We understand that social media handles and pages of this outlet, which is an important diaspora outlet, have been blocked and are not available for viewers in Canada. This happened a few hours after this particular handle carried the press conference of the External Affairs Minister with Penny Wong."

Stating that the Australian news outlet had carried several articles on the visit of the External Affairs Minister as well as an interview of the minister, Jaiswal added, "We were surprised. It looks strange to us. But, nonetheless, these are actions that yet again highlight the hypocrisy of Canada towards freedom of speech".

"In his media interactions, the External Affairs Minister spoke about three things: a pattern of Canada making allegations without evidence, the surveillance of Indian diplomats - which he termed unacceptable - and the political space being given in Canada to anti-India elements. So you can draw your conclusions from that on why the Australia Today channel was blocked," he added.

Earlier last week, India reported that Canadian authorities notified some Indian consular officials that they have been under audio and video surveillance.

India condemned these actions as a "flagrant violation" of diplomatic conventions, and said Canada could not hide behind technicalities to justify its harassment and intimidation and that a protest had been lodged with the Canadian government.

Jaiswal also confirmed that some consular camps have been cancelled in Toronto because they did not get security assurance from Canada.

The announcement came days after the attack on a Hindu temple in Brampton, where a consular camp was being held, on 3 November.

PM Narendra Modi had also condemned the attack and criticised "cowardly attempts" to intimidate Indian diplomats in Canada.

Relations between India and Canada have deteriorated since Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, without proof, accused Indian agents last year of involvement in the assassination of Khalistani terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar—a claim India has repeatedly refuted, challenging Canada to substantiate these claims.

The situation worsened last month when the Indian High Commissioner was termed a "person of interest" in the killing.

India dismissed the fresh charge as "ludicrous" and withdrew the High Commissioner and some diplomats while expelling six Canadian officials, including Canada's acting High Commissioner Stewart Ross Wheeler.

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