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Indian authorities have cancelled the visa of Norwegian journalist Helle Lyng, who had questioned Prime Minister Narendra Modi during his visit to Norway in May this year, just hours before her scheduled departure for India.
Lyng, a journalist with Oslo-based newspaper Dagsavisen, was due to attend the Bharat Summit in Hyderabad, scheduled for November 12-14, where she had been invited as a panellist and speaker to discuss the future of media, press freedom and democracy.
In a post on social media platform X on Wednesday (November 11), Lyng said she had received a telephone call from the Indian Embassy in Norway approximately 10 minutes before she was due to leave for the airport.
She was informed that she would not be allowed to travel to India and that her visa had been cancelled.
She alleged that the decision had been taken on the orders of India’s Ministry of Home Affairs, despite having already received a valid visa and political clearance from the Ministry of External Affairs.
In a video message addressed to Indian Home Minister Amit Shah, Lyng expressed shock over the decision and questioned why the Home Ministry had intervened in her visit.
She suggested that the cancellation might be linked to her journalistic activities, particularly her questioning of Modi during his visit to Oslo on May 18.
At the time, Modi and Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre had delivered a joint press statement.
As Modi was leaving the venue, Lyng asked him why he did not take questions from journalists, describing the press in Norway as among the freest in the world. Modi left without responding to her question.
Lyng subsequently questioned Indian officials about press freedom, human rights and the government’s record during a media briefing in Oslo.
She has also published opinion pieces criticising Modi’s governance and raising questions about the influence of influential Indian business figures Mukesh Ambani and Gautam Adani.
The journalist said she had not received any official explanation for the visa cancellation and described the move as potentially politically motivated.
She also requested the Indian government to reconsider its decision so that she could attend the summit.
The Indian Ministry of Home Affairs, Ministry of External Affairs and the Indian Embassy in Norway had not issued any official response to the allegations as of Thursday.
The incident has drawn attention to questions surrounding press freedom and the treatment of foreign journalists seeking to visit India.