Washington: The United States on Thursday (local time) refrained from commenting on an Australian journalist's claims of being denied a visa in India to cover the ongoing 18th Lok Sabha elections because her reports "crossed a line". Avani Dias, the South Asia Bureau Chief of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) said she had to leave India due to pressure from authorities.
"After Australian Government intervention, I got a mere two-month extension...less than 24 hours before my flight," she said in a post on 'X'. "We were also told my election accreditation would not come through because of an Indian Ministry directive. We left on day one of voting in the national election in what Modi calls 'the mother of democracy".
However, government sources said that Dias' claims were "incorrect, misleading and mischievous" and that she was found to have violated visa rules while "undertaking her professional pursuits". Curiously, Dias left India on April 20 two days after her visa was extended till June after the journalist was assured her visa would be extended for the coverage of the general elections.
The sources asserted that Dias' claims about not being permitted to cover the elections were factually incorrect as covering election activities outside of booths is permitted to all visa-holder journalists. Authority letters are required only for access to polling booths and counting stations, but this cannot be processed while the visa extension is under process, they added.
What did the US government say about the claims?
Responding to the allegations made by Avani, US State Department spokesperson Vedant Patel on Thursday said, "Look, the government of India can speak to its own visa policy. That is not something I am going to opine on from here."
"Broadly, we have been clear with countries around the world about the integral role that a free press plays in the fabric of democracy. That is why we come up here and take questions regularly. But I will let the officials in India speak to the specific," Patel told reporters at a news conference.
Notably, other ABC correspondents including, Meghna Bali and Som Patidar have already received their letters, according to government sources. During the press briefing, Patel also denied making any remark on the internal investigation report by the Indian Government on the alleged assassination plot of Khalistani terrorist Gurpatwant Singh Pannun.
French journalist's OCI card revoked
This matter came months after French journalist Vanessa Dougnac was issued a notice by New Delhi for an alleged violation of visa rules and her Overseas Citizen of India (OCI) card was revoked by authorities, prompting her to leave the country in February. The Indian government said the notice issued to Vanessa Dougnac was "not related to her work" and clarified she had "violated visa rules".
Dougnac said she cannot afford to wait for the outcome of the legal process set in motion in the wake of a notice issued to her by the government regarding the cancellation of her Overseas Citizen of India card. "Today, I am leaving India, the country where I came 25 years ago as a student, and where I have worked for 23 years as a journalist. The place where I married, raised my son, and which I call my home," she said.
She said leaving India was not her choice and that she was forced to by the government which had claimed that her articles were "malicious" and harming "the interests of the sovereignty and integrity of India". The notice to Dougnac also figured in the delegation-level talks between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and French President Emmanuel Macron, who was the chief guest for the Republic Day celebrations.
(with inputs from agencies)
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