In a surprising development, Canada has blocked the social media handles and pages of prominent diaspora outlet 'Australia Today' after it aired a press conference featuring Indian External Affairs Minister (EAM) Dr. S. Jaishankar alongside Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong. 

During the joint press conference with Penny Wong, Jaishankar voiced concerns over political space being granted to Khalistani extremists in Canada. Jaishankar also noted that India has raised the matter with Australia.

Interestingly, Canada's ban came just hours after the outlet broadcasted the event, leading to widespread speculation over the timing of the action.

Responding to the incident, Indian Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal expressed surprise, calling the move "strange." He criticized Canada's actions, suggesting that they reflected a pattern of hypocrisy regarding freedom of speech. 

"We understand that the social media handles of this particular outlet, which is an important diaspora outlet, have been blocked and are no longer available for viewers in Canada...This happened just an hour or a few hours after this particular handle carried the press conference of EAM Dr. S. Jaishankar with Penny Wong. We were surprised. It looks strange to us," Jaiswal said.

Jaiswal went on to highlight what he described as Canada's continued pattern of actions against India, referencing three key points made by EAM Jaishankar in his media engagements. 

"...I will say that these are actions which yet again highlight the hypocrisy of Canada towards freedom of speech. You would have seen that EAM in his media engagements, spoke about three things. 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. So you can draw your conclusions from that, why Australia Today channel was blocked by Canada...," he added. 

The incident has sparked further tensions in an already strained relationship between Canada and India, with both countries continuing to grapple with complex diplomatic and political challenges.