Svendsen, a former US correspondent, now works for Norwegian newspaper Dagsavisen. (Photo credit: Instagram)
NEW DELHI: Norwegian journalist Helle Lyng Svendsen, who came into the spotlight in India in May after questioning Prime Minister Narendra Modi on why he did not take questions from journalists, is back in focus after alleging that her Indian visa was cancelled just minutes before she was due to leave for the airport to attend the Bharat Summit in Hyderabad. In a video posted on X on Wednesday, she said she had secured an Indian visa and political clearance, but received a call from the Indian Embassy in Oslo around 10 minutes before she was due to leave for the airport. The reasons for the reported cancellation have not been officially communicated to her, according to her account. The leaders had already been announced as not taking questions, and Modi left without responding.
She alleged that she was told she could not travel to India following directions from the Union ministry of home affairs. But orders from above in the ministry of home affairs have cancelled my visa,” she said in her post. She had been invited as a panelist and speaker at the Congress-organised summit to participate in a discussion on the future of media and press freedom. “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. Svendsen came into the spotlight in India in May during Modi’s visit to Norway for bilateral talks with Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre. After the two leaders made their statements at a joint media interaction in Oslo, Svendsen attempted to ask Modi why he did not take questions from journalists.