India lambasts Canada for blocking Australian channel over EAM Jaishankar’s press conference coverage

Hours after the Justin Trudeau government in Canada blocked an Australian media outlet for airing External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and his Australian counterpart Penny Wong's press interaction in Canberra, the Ministry of External Affairs slammed the decision as ‘hypocrisy’.

The Australia Today channel was allegedly blocked by Canada because it aired MEA S Jaishankar's critical remarks against that country.

"We understand that the social media handles and pages of this particular outlet, which is an important diaspora outlet, have been blocked and are not available for viewers in Canada. This happened just an hour or a 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 is that these are actions which yet again highlight the hypocrisy of Canada towards freedom of speech," MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said at a press conference on Thursday.

During a press interaction, Jaiswal said EAM Jaishankar highlighted that political space was being given to anti-India elements in Canada.

"You would have seen that the 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 he highlighted was the political space that Canada has given to anti-India elements. So you can draw your conclusions from that, why the Australia Today channel was blocked by Canada," ANI quoted him as saying.

What Jaishankar said

The minister lambasted Canada in Australia on Tuesday over the attack on a Hindu temple in Brampton. Apart from this, Jaishankar also touched upon India's charge that Canada had 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 said.

"The third is the incident which the gentleman spoke about, do look at the video. I think that will tell in a way the political space which is being given to extremist forces there," the EAM added.

Following the murder of Khalistani separatist Hardeep Singh Nijjar, authorities in Canada alleged that senior Indian diplomats were 'persons of interest'. The India-Canada bilateral relations hit rock bottom last month over these allegations.

With agency inputs.