It is unfortunate- Deshpande, Bharat Summit Organiser
The Indian government—specifically the Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) and the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA)—has not issued an official public reason for revoking the visa of Dagsavisen journalist Helle Lyng Svendsen. According to Svendsen, the Indian Embassy in Oslo telephoned her roughly 10 minutes before she was scheduled to leave for the airport on November 11, 2026, stating that her previously approved visa had been cancelled on “orders from above” in the MHA. While MEA political clearance had been granted for international delegates attending the Bharat Summit in Hyderabad (November 13–14, 2026), such clearances remain subject to final MHA security and immigration approval under the Immigration and Foreigners Act, 2025. In a public video statement addressed to Union Home Minister Amit Shah, Svendsen suggested the revocation was politically motivated, pointing to several possible triggers.
Questioning PM Modi in Oslo
During Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s May 2026 visit to Norway, Svendsen publicly challenged him after a joint press statement, asking why he would not take questions from “the freest press in the world”. She had written opinion pieces criticising the Modi government’s governance and industrialists Gautam Adani and Mukesh Ambani, and had covered domestic protest movements.
Stand of the Telangana Government
The Congress-led Telangana state government, which is hosting and facilitating the Bharat Summit in Hyderabad, has not issued a separate formal cabinet statement on Svendsen’s visa, as immigration and visa approvals fall exclusively under the jurisdiction of the Central Government. However, Congress leadership and Bharat Summit organisers strongly condemned the Centre’s move. Summit organiser Pushparaj Deshpande termed the cancellation “deeply unfortunate” and criticised the Union government’s democratic credentials, while the Indian National Congress questioned why the Centre was “so afraid of questions”. Organisers confirmed that roughly 115 of the 316 expected international delegates faced administrative or visa hurdles ahead of the event.
Press Freedom Row Erupts Over Last-Minute Visa Cancellation
A major diplomatic and political controversy has erupted ahead of the Bharat Summit in Hyderabad after the Indian government abruptly cancelled the visa of Norwegian journalist Helle Lyng Svendsen minutes before her scheduled departure. Svendsen, a senior journalist with the Oslo-based daily Dagsavisen, had been invited to speak on a panel examining press freedom and the future of media at the November 13–14 conference.
According to Svendsen, she had completed all formalities, obtained political clearance from the Ministry of External Affairs, and collected her stamped passport on November 10. However, just ten minutes before she was set to leave for the airport in Oslo, officials from the Indian Embassy called to inform her that her visa had been revoked following “orders from above” in the Ministry of Home Affairs. No written explanation was provided. In a widely circulated video appeal directed at Union Home Minister Amit Shah, Svendsen questioned whether the last-minute block was a retaliatory move. She noted that she had made headlines in May 2026 during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Oslo when she publicly called out to him for declining to take media questions. She also pointed to her critical opinion columns on the Indian government and prominent Indian corporate conglomerates as potential factors behind the blacklisting.
New Delhi remained silent
While New Delhi has remained silent—relying legally on the Immigration and Foreigners Act, 2025, which grants the Centre broad powers to restrict foreign entry—the incident has drawn sharp criticism in Hyderabad. In Telangana, where the ruling Congress party is spearheading the Bharat Summit, organisers denounced the revocation as bureaucratic overreach and an embarrassment to India’s democratic image. Party functionaries noted that Svendsen was among more than a hundred foreign delegates who encountered eleventh-hour visa complications. As Hyderabad hosts global policymakers and thinkers, the empty chair on the press freedom panel has become a focal point of the very debate Svendsen was invited to join.
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