• Source:JND
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Hours after Canada banned the social media handles and pages of the ‘important diaspora outlet’ Australia Today for airing the press conference of EAM S Jaishankar and his counterpart Penny Wong, India strongly criticised the move, saying such actions highlight Canada's hypocrisy toward freedom of speech.

MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal criticised Canada's stance on freedom of speech, calling it hypocritical. He also noted that S Jaishankar raised concerns about Canada providing political space to ‘anti-India elements’.

Highlighting why Canada has blocked Australia Today, Jaiswal said, "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 which he highlighted was the political space which has been given in Canada to anti-India elements."


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Australia Today Banned Over Jaishankar's Khalistani Remarks

Earlier, Australia Today, a key outlet for the Indian community, aired the joint press conference of S Jaishankar and Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong in Canberra. During the joint press conference with Penny Wong, Jaishankar expressed concerns about Canada granting political space to Khalistani extremists.

The outlet focuses on news and analysis related to the Indian community in Australia and globally.

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“This happened just an hour or a few hours after this particular handle carried the press conference of EAM S Jaishankar with Penny Wong. We were surprised. It looks strange to us," Jaiswal said.

India-Canada relations soured after Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's allegations in September of potential Indian involvement in the killing of Khalistani extremist Hardeep Singh Nijjar. India rejected the charges as absurd'.