Norwegian journalist claims MHA cancelled her visa for Hyderabad event

She came into the spotlight in India in May after questioning Modi during a joint media interaction with Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Store in Oslo. (Photo credit: Instagram)

HYDERABAD: Norwegian journalist Helle Lyng Svendsen, who was invited to speak at the Bharat Summit in Hyderabad, has alleged that her Indian visa was cancelled at the last minute, preventing her from travelling to India despite having secured a visa and political clearance.In a video posted on X on Wednesday, Svendsen said she received a call from the Indian Embassy in Oslo around 10 minutes before she was due to leave for the airport. She alleged that she was told she could not travel following directions from the Union ministry of home affairs (MHA).“I got a visa to India and was supposed to leave this morning to attend the Bharat Summit in Hyderabad. I had been invited as a panelist and speaker on the future of media and press freedom.

But orders from above in the ministry of home affairs have cancelled my visa,” she said in her X post.

Bharat Summit organiser Pushparaj Deshpande also reacted to the development on X, writing: “It’s deeply unfortunate that Ms Helle Lyng Svendsen will be unable to join us at the Bharat Summit. This is what the ‘mother of democracy’ looks like in PM Modi-HM Shah Raj.”Svendsen, who works for Norwegian newspaper Dagsavisen, was scheduled to participate in a discussion on the future of media and press freedom at the Congress-organised summit.

She came into the spotlight in India in May after questioning Modi during a joint media interaction with Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Store in Oslo.As the leaders concluded their statements, she asked Modi why he did not take questions from journalists. He left without responding.

The reasons for the reported visa cancellation have not been officially communicated to her, according to her account.