Manas Dasgupta
NEW DELHI, Nov 7: Amidst strained relations between the two countries over Indian government’s alleged involvement in the murder of a Khalistani terrorist, India on Thursday highlighted the Canadian move to block an Australian media outlet hours after it broadcast the press conference of External Affairs Minister (EAM) S. Jaishankar and his Australian counterpart Penny Wong as well as an interview of the Indian minister.
External Affairs Ministry spokesman 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,” Mr 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 Mr Jaishankar, in his media interactions in Australia, 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,” Mr Jaiswal said.
During his Australia visit, which ended on Thursday, Mr Jaishankar met Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and also co-chaired the 15th Foreign Ministers’ Framework Dialogue with Ms Wong.
Last week, India had said some of its consular officials were informed by the Canadian government that they have been under audio and video surveillance. Terming the action a “flagrant violation” of diplomatic conventions, India had said Canada could not hide behind technicalities to justify its harassment and intimidation and that a protest had been lodged with the Canadian government.
Mr Jaiswal also confirmed that some consular camps have been cancelled in Toronto because they did not get security assurance from Canada. The announcement came days after the attack on a Hindu temple in Brampton, where a consular camp was being held, on November 3. The Prime Minister Narendra Modi had also condemned the attack and criticised “cowardly attempts” to intimidate Indian diplomats in Canada.
Consular camps are routine operations organized by the Indian diplomatic missions in Canada, including the High Commission in Ottawa and the Consulates in Vancouver and Toronto, to assist Indian nationals with various services, such as life certificates.
MEA Spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal today said, “You would have seen the message posted by our consulate in Toronto that they had to cancel the consular camp they were planning to organize over the weekend because they did not receive adequate security or security assurance from the host government.”
“That was the reason these consular camps had to be cancelled. As you know, we have a large diaspora in Canada. Many of these people, especially around November and December, need several documents for the continuation of their pensions and other activities here in India. So, this consular camp we do is helpful to the community, to both people of Indian nationality and people of Indian origin who may now be nationals of other countries,” Mr Jaiswal said.
The Consulate General of India in Toronto earlier said, “In view of the security agencies conveying their inability to provide minimum security protection to the community camp organizers, the Consulate has decided to cancel some of the scheduled consular camps.” “In case any camp is infeasible to be held due to such disruptions, alternative arrangements will be made to render those services, which may unfortunately inconvenience local users of these services,” the High Commission said.
Ties between India and Canada have been strained since Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau claimed – without offering any evidence – last year that “Indian agents” were involved in the killing of Khalistani terrorist Canadian citizen Hardeep Singh Nijjar. The allegation has been rubbished by New Delhi several times and it has asked Canada to produce evidence to back up the claim.
The relationship hit a new low last month when the Indian High Commissioner was termed a “person of interest” in the killing. India dismissed the fresh charge as “ludicrous” and withdrew the High Commissioner and some diplomats while expelling six Canadian officials, including Canada’s acting High Commissioner Stewart Ross Wheeler.