Canada blocked Australian media outlet for reporting Jaishankar's presser in Canberra: India

India on Thursday said Canada blocked an Australian media outlet hours after it broadcast the press conference of External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and his Australian counterpart Penny WongExternal Affairs Ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said the Canadian action of blocking the social media handles and certain pages of Australia Today smacked of hypocrisy towards freedom of speechWe 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 Jaiswal said in response to a question at the weekly media briefingWe 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 saidHe said Jaishankar in his media interactions in Australian capital Canberra had spoken about the allegations levelled against India by Canada without sharing any specific evidenceYou 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 saidThe spokesperson said the second thing he highlighted was surveillance of Indian diplomats happening in Canada which he termed as unacceptableThe third thing which he highlighted was the political space which has been given in Canada to antiIndia elements So you can draw your conclusions from that why the Australia Today channel was blocked by Canada Jaiswal saidJaishankar is visiting Australia from November 37 during which he and Wong held a joint press briefing in Canberra and the Indian external affairs minister also fielded questions on the Brampton temple incident and the overall escalation in diplomatic row between India and CanadaDescribing the Hindu temple incident in Brampton as deeply concerning Jaishankar on Tuesday had said it told in a way the political space which is being given to extremist forces in CanadaResponding to a query during his joint press briefing with Wong he had also accused Ottawa of developing a pattern of making allegations without providing specificsIn Canadas Brampton protestors carrying Khalistani flags clashed with people at the Hindu Sabha temple and disrupted a consular event coorganised by the temple authorities and the Indian ConsulateJaiswal in his comments recalled the remarks made by Jaishankar in Canberra to reiterate Indias stand on the ongoing diplomatic standoffWe condemn the attack on the temple in Brampton and we have called upon the Canadian government to uphold the rule of law and to bring to justice the people who perpetrated the violence We hope that the Canadian government will take due action the MEA spokesperson saidOn reports of cancelling of consular camps in Toronto he said Yes you would have seen the message posted by our consulate in Toronto that they had to cancel the consular camp that they were planning to organise over the weekend because they didnt get adequate security or security assurance from the host government That was the reason these consular camps have been cancelled he saidJaiswal highlighted that there is a large Indian diaspora in Canada and many of these people in the month of NovemberDecember need several documentation for continuation of their pension and several others activities in India and these camps are useful for both Indian nationals or people of Indianorigin thereBut I do understand that in other parts of Canada such as Vancouver these consular camps will be conducted These camps happen at the request of the community organisations he saidAsked if security was sought by the Indian side the MEA spokesperson said We had asked for security to be provided for our diplomats where our consular camps are to be held and these have not been provided by the Canadian side On whether threat to diplomatic and consular staff in Canada have increased he said threats have increasedTheir surveillance is totally unacceptable as mentioned by the Indian external affairs minister in Canberra And India has taken up the matter very strongly Jaiswal saidThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever