india
Norwegian journalist alleges embassy stopped her from travelling to India, cancelled visa
Helle Lyng Svendsen said that New Delhi did not provide a reason for denying her entry, and alleged the decision felt ‘politically motivated’.
Scroll StaffNov 12, 2026 · 08:32 am Updated Nov 12, 2026 · 07:12 pm
Norwegian journalist Helle Lyng Svendsen on Wednesday alleged that the Indian embassy in Oslo stopped her from travelling to India for a conference and cancelled her visa.
Svendsen said that 10 minutes before she left for the airport, the embassy asked her not to travel.
The journalist said that she had received political clearance, a visa and was supposed to speak on the future of media and press freedom at the Bharat Summit organised in Hyderabad by the Congress-led Telangana government. “But ‘orders from above’ in the Ministry of Home Affairs have cancelled my visa,” she alleged on social media.
In May, Svendsen sparked a debate about the role of the press in a democracy – and refocused attention on the Indian prime minister’s refusal to address press conferences.
As Modi was leaving the podium after he and his Norwegian counterpart addressed a joint press meet in Oslo on May 18, Svendsen had asked the Indian prime minister why he does not take “some questions from the freest press in the world”. She works at a newspaper called Dagsavisen.
The Bharat Summit is being organised by the Congress.
Svendsen said on Tuesday that she had not been given a reason.
She alleged that “apparently” it was the home ministry that decided that she cannot enter India. “And I don’t understand why, but it does feel politically motivated,” she alleged.
“Maybe it has something to do with the fact that I used my freedom of press back in May 2026 to question the prime minister of India, Narendra Modi, here in Oslo, Norway,” she said in a video addressed to Union Home Minister Amit Shah.
Svendsen added: “I’m thinking it might also be because I’ve used my freedom of expression to criticise Narendra Modi and his governance both in public opinion pieces from my Norwegian newspaper, but also online for the Indian people to see.”
The Norwegian journalist said that she was also wondering whether her “criticism of [businesspersons] Adani and Ambani, two of Narendra Modi’s alleged close friends, both very rich, the powerful billionaires of India and Asia...may also have something to do with this”.
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.
Here… pic.twitter.com/ihAuZdUCmc
— Helle Lyng (@HelleLyngSvends) November 11, 2026
Svendsen said that she was also wondering if her “positive opinion pieces” about the Cockroach Janta Party political campaign and her interview of the movement’s founder Abhijeet Dipke “might be the reason why I’m not allowed” to enter India.
The journalist said it was at least two days until her panel discussion at the event in Hyderabad and that she is hoping the Indian government would reconsider its decision. “…The ball is now in your court,” she said.
She added: “What will the world’s largest democracy do? Will I be able to enter the country, or will I not when I have political clearance, a visa and my passport, a place to be and most importantly people from international environment and India waiting and expecting for me to be there.”
The home ministry, the Ministry of External Affairs and the embassy have not yet commented on Svendsen’s allegations.
The organisers of the Bharat Summit said that about 200 international delegates were attending the event. “We are focused on making sure the summit goes ahead smoothly in keeping with Rahul Gandhi’s vision,” they told Scroll.
Political clearance had been obtained from the external affairs ministry for 316 foreign delegates, said party functionaries familiar with the development.
Press body demands reversal of action
Expressing concern at the cancellation of Svendsen’s visa, the Editors Guild of India demanded that the government disclose the reason behind the action and reverse its decision. The press body said that Svendsen asking Modi a question in Oslo appeared to be her only “crime”.
It added that freedom of speech was a fundamental right enshrined in the Constitution.
“Such actions smack of bureaucratic overreach and do immense harm to India’s image as the world’s largest democracy,” stated the press body. “Freedom of speech is one of the first principles that any functioning democracy abides by.”
Svendsen’s run-ins with New Delhi
On May 18, after Modi left the hall without acknowledging Svendsen’s query, Svendsen said on social media that she had not actually expected the Indian leader to take her question.
On social media, supporters of the Bharatiya Janata Party had claimed that Svendsen had acted inappropriately. Some said that she had failed to understand that this was a “press briefing” and not a “press conference” at which questions could be asked.
Amit Malviya, the head of the BJP’s publicity cell at the time, characterised her question as a “delinquent journalist’s incoherent rant”. He suggested that she had asked it because she did “not want to see a strong and powerful India”.
Modi’s opponents saw the incident as another instance of the prime minister not answering journalists’ questions.
Since he came to power in 2014, Modi has avoided press conferences, both at home and abroad. He took unscripted questions from reporters at media meets only twice: in the United Kingdom in 2015 and in the United States in 2023.
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi said that Modi’s reaction to Svendsen had undermined the country’s image.
Shortly after, the Indian embassy had told Svendsen that it was organising a press conference later in the day, ignoring her question about whether she would be able to interview Modi there.
At the event, Svendsen asked why Oslo should trust New Delhi. She also asked if it could be promised that “human rights violations that go on in your country” would be stopped and “will the prime minister start taking critical questions from the Indian press at some point in the future”.
In response, an external affairs ministry official spoke for 13 minutes, without specifically answering Svendsen’s question.
Offering what he claimed was a background for why the world should trust India, he said that India is a “civilisational country that is 5,000 years old” and has “something unique that it has offered to the world and continues to”.
When Svendsen said he was not answering the question, the official said that it was his press conference and asked her not to interrupt.
Inputs from Anant Gupta. Written by Nachiket Deuskar. Edited by Abeer Khan.
Also read:
- The journalist who asked Modi a question
- ‘Embarrassing’: Editors Guild on PM Modi, Indian delegation’s ‘face-off’ with journalists in Europe
Source: Scroll.in
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