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Such measures, according to the Ministry of External Affairs, demonstrate Canada’s hypocrisy regarding free speech.
India has strongly reacted to reports that social media pages and handles of an Australian news outlet were blocked in Canada just hours after it published an interview with the Indian minister and a press conference featuring Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong and External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar. The country claims that such actions expose Canada’s hypocrisy regarding free speech.
Mr. Jaishankar met with Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese during his visit to Australia, which concludes on Thursday. He also co-chaired the 15th Foreign Ministers’ Framework Dialogue with Ms. Wong.
When asked about Australia Today’s social media accounts being blocked in Canada, Ministry of External Affairs Spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal responded, “We understand that social media handles and pages of this outlet, which is an important diaspora outlet, have been blocked and are not available for viewers in Canada,” on Thursday. This happened a few hours after this particular handle covered the External Affairs Minister’s press conference with Penny Wong.
Mr. Jaiswal went on to say, “We were surprised,” noting that the outlet had interviewed Mr. Jaishankar and published several articles about his visit. We find it odd. Nevertheless, these acts serve to further expose Canada’s hypocrisy regarding free speech. The External Affairs Minister discussed three topics in his media appearances: Canada’s habit of making accusations without supporting data, the monitoring of Indian diplomats, which he called intolerable, and the political room being granted to anti-Indian groups in Canada. You can then use that information to determine why the Australia Today channel was blocked.
Last week, India claimed that the Canadian government had told some of its consular officials that they were being filmed and recorded. India referred to the action as a “flagrant violation” of diplomatic conventions, claiming that Canada could not use technicalities to justify its harassment and intimidation because a protest had been filed with the Canadian government.
Additionally, Mr. Jaiswal confirmed that some consular camps in Toronto were cancelled due to the lack of security assurance from Canada. Days after the November 3 attack on a Hindu temple in Brampton, where a consular camp was being held, the announcement was made. In addition, Prime Minister Narendra Modi denounced the assault and “cowardly attempts” to threaten Indian diplomats in Canada.
Since Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau asserted last year that “Indian agents” were responsible for the murder of Khalistani terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar without providing any supporting evidence, ties between India and Canada have been tense. New Delhi has repeatedly denied the accusation and requested that Canada provide evidence to support it.
When the Indian High Commissioner was named a “person of interest” in the murder last month, the relationship reached a new low. In addition to expelling six Canadian officials, including Stewart Ross Wheeler, Canada’s acting High Commissioner, India dismissed the new charge as “ludicrous” and withdrew the High Commissioner and a few diplomats.