Muzaffar Khan
India has criticized Canada for blocking an Australian outlet interviewing Indian Foreign Minister S Jaishankar, saying it highlights Ottawa’s ‘hypocrisy’.
India has criticized Canada for blocking the social media handles and web pages of Australian news outlets following the press conference of Foreign Minister S Jaishankar and Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong, as well as interviews with Indian foreign ministers.
Criticizing the move, India said it highlights Canada’s hypocrisy regarding freedom of speech and expression.
Jaishankar met Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albany during his visit to Sydney and co-chaired the 15th Foreign Ministers’ Framework Dialogue with Wong.
When asked about Australia Today’s social media handles being blocked in Canada, External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said during his weekly media briefing on Thursday that we believe that the social media handles and pages of the outlet that That is an important immigrant. The outlet has been blocked and is unavailable to viewers in Canada, hours after the foreign minister’s press conference with Penny Wong on behalf of that particular handle.
He added that we were surprised. This seems strange to us. Nonetheless, these are actions that once again highlight Canada’s hypocrisy towards free speech. In his media interaction, the foreign minister talked about three things: a Canadian pattern of making accusations without making accusations; The surveillance of Indian diplomats – which he described as unacceptable – and the political space given to anti-India elements in Canada can draw your own conclusions as to why the Australia Today channel was blocked.
Last week, the Canadian government notified some Indian consular officials that they were under audio and video surveillance.
Calling the action a clear violation of diplomatic agreements, India said Canada could not cite technicalities to justify its harassment and intimidation.
He has also filed a protest with the Canadian government over the matter.
The recent standoff between New Delhi and Ottawa arose after Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau accused Indian officials of involvement in the killing of Khalistani terrorist Hardeep Singh Najjar.
India expelled six Canadian diplomats and asked them to leave the country last month after Ottawa said it was seeking the Indian ambassador and other diplomats of interest in the killing of a Sikh separatist leader last year. Investigating as individuals.
In a tit-for-tat move, Canada also asked six Indian diplomats to leave the country after its police allegedly found evidence they claimed to be part of the Indian government’s campaign of violence.
The Indian government also decided to withdraw its high commissioner in Canada after Ottawa’s accusations.
India is furious that the Khalistan referendum is held in Canada and the Khalistan parade celebrates the assassination of Indira Gandhi. However, freedom of speech and expression is a highly protected value in Canada and there is a high threshold for what constitutes hate speech that can be prosecuted.
