Canada Bans Australian Media Outlet For Airing Jaishankar's Presser, India Says 'Hypocrisy Towards Freedom Of Speech'

Randhir Jaiswal said that Canada has banned an important diaspora outlet 'Australia Today', which is no longer available for viewers in Canada.

Randhir Jaiswal said that Canada has banned an Australia media outlet for airing MEA Jaishankar's presser.

Source : @MyLordBebo (X)

India on Thursday said that an Australian media outlet was banned in Canada hours after it aired External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar's meeting with his Australian couterpart Penny Wong. MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal hit out at Canada for banning the media outlet, saying that this move highlighted the country's hypocrisy towards freedom of speech.

Jaiswal stated that Canada has banned Australia Today, which he said is an important diaspora outlet. The media outlet has been blocked and is no longer available for viewers in Canada.

"We understand that the social media handles, pages of this particular outlet, which is an important diaspora outlet, has 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...We were surprised. 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," he said.

The MEA spokesperson further underscored the issues on which MEA Jaishankar spoke about in his media engagements, which included Canada's pattern of levelling allegations without any evidence. 

"You would have seen that EAM in his media engagements, spoke about three things. One was Canada making allegations and a pattern has developed without any specific evidence. The second thing he highlighted was surveillance of Indian diplomats happening 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 Australia Today channel was blocked by Canada," Jaiswal added.

During his official visit to Australia, Jaishankar on Tuesday slammed Canada over the recent attack on a Hindu temple in Brampton. He also spoke about India's allegation that Canada has illegally placed Indian diplomats under surveillance.

"Let me make three comments, one, Canada has developed a pattern of making allegations without providing specifics. Secondly, when we look at Canada, for us, the fact that...our diplomats are under surveillance, is something which is unacceptable," Jaishankar had said. He also spoke about how "political space is being given to extremist forces in Canada".

The bilateral realtions between India and Canada are at an all time low since last month after Canada labelled senior Indian diplomats as "persons of interest" in the murder case of Khilastani separatist Hardeep Singh Nijjar, alleging their involvement in the plot.