New Delhi: India on Thursday said Canada blocked an Australian media outlet hours after it broadcast the press conference of External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and his Australian counterpart Penny Wong.
External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said the Canadian action of blocking the social media handles and certain pages of Australia Today smacked of “hypocrisy” towards freedom of speech.
“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 in response to a question at the weekly media briefing.
“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,” the external affairs ministry spokesman said.
He said Jaishankar, in his media interactions in Australian capital Canberra, had spoken about the allegations levelled against India by Canada without sharing any specific evidence.
“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.
The spokesperson said 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 the Australia Today channel was blocked by Canada,” Jaiswal said.
Jaishankar is visiting Australia from November 3-7 during which he and Wong held a joint press briefing in Canberra, and the Indian external affairs minister also fielded questions on the Brampton temple incident and the overall escalation in diplomatic row between India and Canada.
Describing the Hindu temple incident in Brampton as “deeply concerning”, Jaishankar on Tuesday had said it told in a way the “political space” which is being given to “extremist forces” in Canada.