New Delhi: Bilateral relations having hit an all-time low since Justin Trudeau’s accusation of Indian involvement in the killing of Khalistani terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar in Canada, the two administrations are not missing an opportunity to be critical of one another.
India on Thursday called out Canada’s “hypocrisy towards freedom of speech” after Trudeau’s government banned a leading Australian media outlet hours after it broadcast a press conference of External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar’s meeting with his Australian counterpart Penny Wong.
Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said Canada blocked Australia Today, as is evident from its content and social media pages being no longer accessible to Canadian users.
“We understand that the social media handles and pages of this particular outlet, which is an important diaspora outlet, have been blocked and are no longer available for viewers in Canada. This happened just a few hours after this outlet carried a press conference of the External Affairs Minister along with Penny Wong. The outlet also published several articles on the visit of the External Affairs Minister, as well as an interview with him. We were surprised,” Jaiswal told reporters.
“It looks strange to us. But nonetheless, what I will say that these are actions which yet again highlight the hypocrisy of Canada towards freedom of speech. You would have seen that EAM in his media engagements, spoke about three things,” Jaiswal added.
“One was Canada making allegations and a pattern has developed without any specific evidence. The second thing he highlighted was surveillance of Indian diplomats in Canada, which he termed as unacceptable. The third thing which he highlighted was the political space which has been given in Canada to anti-India elements. So you can draw your conclusions from that, why the Australia Today channel was blocked by Canada,” Jaiswal pointed out.
Last week, Khalistani separatists attacked a Hindu temple at Canada’s Brampton, which was strongly condemned by India. Jaishankar called the attack “deeply concerning”, while Prime Minister Narendra Modi urged Canadian government to ensure justice and uphold the rule of law after the “cowardly attack.”
