Canada bans Australia Today for airing Jaishankar’s press meet, India reacts

New Delhi: India came down heavily on Canada for banning Australia Today’s social media handle on Thursday hours after the outlet aired External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar’s press conference in Canberra, NDTV reported.

At the press conference alongside Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong, S Jaishankar spoke about the India-Canada diplomatic standoff and criticised the Trudeau regime for allowing Khalistani extremist forces to operate freely in Canada.

India reportedly termed Canada’s ban on the outlet as highlighting the country’s hypocrisy towards freedom of speech.

During his visit to the country ending Thursday, Jaishankar met Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese.

Also he co-chaired the 15th Foreign Ministers' Framework Dialogue with Penny Wong.

Following reports about the ban on the social media handle of Australia Today, the Ministry of External Affairs Spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said on Thursday that ‘these are actions that yet again highlight the hypocrisy of Canada towards freedom of speech’.

Adding further, Randhir Jaiswal said the External Affairs Minister in his media interaction spoke about Canada’s allegations without evidence, the surveillance of Indian diplomats and the political space being given to anti-India elements.

‘So you can draw your conclusions from that on why the Australia Today channel was blocked,’ Randhir Jaiswal was quoted as saying.

Meanwhile, India last week said that Canada informed some of its consular officials that they were under audio and video surveillance.

Subsequently, India termed the action a ‘flagrant violation’ of diplomatic conventions, adding that Canada could not justify its harassment and intimidation, hiding behind technicalities.

The diplomatic ties between India and Canada remain strained after Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau alleged last year without offering evidence that Indian agents were behind the killing of Khalistani terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar.