An Australian news outlet has raised concerns over press freedom after it was blocked by Canada for airing an interview with Foreign Minister S Jaishankar and the press conference of Australian Senator Penny Wong. Responding to the ban, The Australia Today's managing editor Jitarth Jai Bharadwaj said the move has made it difficult for the team, but they are undeterred by such obstacles.
Mr Jaishankar's Australia visit ended Thursday, during which he met Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and co-chaired the 15th Foreign Ministers' Framework Dialogue with Ms Wong. Canada blocked the outlet's social media pages soon after it held a press conference with Mr Jaishankar and Ms Wong. The move coming amid diplomatic tensions between New Delhi and Ottawa, sparked a strong response from India, who called out their "hypocrisy" towards freedom of speech.
The Australia Today responded to the ban this morning, stating that they will be undeterred by such obstacles.
"The recent restriction and ban on our interview with Indian External Affairs Minister @DrSJaishankar and the press conference with Australian Foreign Minister @SenatorWong on #socialmedia, under orders from the Canadian government, have been difficult for our team and those who value free and open #journalism," said Mr Bharadwaj's statement.
The Australia Today vowed to continue advocating for an open and inclusive media landscape as it thanked the fraternity for being a beacon of strength amid the restrictions. "We remain steadfast in our mission to bring important stories and voices to the public, undeterred by these obstacles," said managing editor Mr Bharadwaj in the statement.
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Besides concerns over press freedom, the ban also turned out to be the latest point of friction between India and Canada that threatens to worsen their diplomatic tensions. On being asked about the matter yesterday, Ministry of External Affairs Spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said the social media handles and pages of the "diaspora outlet" have been blocked and are not available for viewers in Canada.
"We were surprised. It looks strange to us. But, nonetheless, these are actions that yet again highlight the hypocrisy of Canada towards freedom of speech. In his media interactions, the External Affairs Minister spoke about three things: a pattern of Canada making allegations without evidence, the surveillance of Indian diplomats - which he termed unacceptable - and the political space being given in Canada to anti-India elements. So you can draw your conclusions from that on why the Australia Today channel was blocked," said the top diplomat.
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India-Canada's ties strained after Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau blamed Indian agents for the murder of Khalistani terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar. The charge was trashed by India as baseless. Last month, the relationship hit a new low with Canada terming the Indian High Commissioner as a "person of interest" in the killing. The move saw India withdrawing some top diplomats from the country while dismissing the charge as "ludicrous".
Last week, India flagged a violation of diplomatic conventions by the Canadian government for putting some of its consular officials under audio and video surveillance. Canada could not hide behind the technicalities to justify its harassment, the government had said while lodging a protest with the Canadian government.
