A Norwegian journalist who questioned Indian Prime Minister (PM) Narendra Modi about press freedom has been denied entry into India after authorities cancelled her visa shortly before she was due to travel to the country for a media conference.
Helle Lyng Svendsen, 29, was invited to speak at the Bharat Summit 2026 in Hyderabad, organised by opposition Congress party, where she was scheduled to participate in discussions on the future of media and press freedom.
Svendsen said that the Indian Embassy in Norway contacted her just 10 minutes before she was due to leave for the airport and informed her that she could not enter India despite holding a visa.
She recalled receiving an urgent message from the embassy before officials called her and told her that her visa would not allow her to enter the country.
Svendsen linked the decision to an earlier interaction with Modi in Oslo in May, when she asked him: “Prime Minister Modi, why don’t you take some questions from the freest press in the world?”
She said the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) had granted her political clearance, but later learned the decision involved the Home Department. Documents reviewed by Al Jazeera did not provide an official reason for the visa cancellation.
The journalist also suggested that the move could be an attempt to weaken the conference and said the authorities could have allowed her to attend and express criticism of the government.
“It’s like a full circle moment because they proved again why that question in May was so controversial and sparked such a discussion,” she said.
She added that she remained willing to travel to India for an interview with Modi, saying: “My door is always open for the Prime Minister of India, and we can, I’ll fly out to India if I can get in, to interview him anytime.”
The visa cancellation came as wider restrictions affected international participation at the summit. Congress parliamentarian Shashi Tharoor said that 115 of the 315 speakers cleared by India’s Ministry of External Affairs were denied entry or had their visas cancelled, apparently on the instructions of the Home Ministry.
