India on Thursday reacted strongly to reports that an Australian media outlet’s pages and social media handles were allegedly blocked in Canada for publishing the press conference of External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar.
The Justin Trudeau government’s action against the Australia Today smacked of hypocrisy towards freedom of speech, MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said in his weekly media briefing.
"We understand that the social media handles, pages of this particular outlet, which are important diaspora outlets, have been blocked and are not available for viewers in Canada. This happened just an hour or few hours after this particular handle carried the press conference of EAM Dr S Jaishankar with Penny Wong," Jaiswal said.
"We were surprised. It looks strange to us. But nonetheless, what I say is that these are actions which yet again highlight the hypocrisy of Canada towards freedom of speech," he further said.
Notably, the Australia Today had also carried an interview of Jaishankar who is on a five-day visit to the country.
The minister, in his press briefing, had mentioned about the allegations Canada had raised against India on the killing of Khalistani activist Hardeep Singh Nijjar.
"You would have seen that the External Affairs Minister, in his media engagements, spoke about three things. One was Canada making allegations and a pattern has developed without any specific evidence," he said.
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Jaiswal also noted that Jaishankar had also touched upon the issues of surveillance of Indian diplomats happening in Canada and the political space being given in Canada to anti-India elements
“So you can draw your conclusions from that, why the Australia Today channel was blocked by Canada," he said.