India has its own visa policy under which it determines which non-citizens can enter the country, the United States said on Thursday, reacting to allegations by an Australian journalist that the Government of India refused to extend her work visa, leading to her leaving the country “abruptly.”
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“India determines which non-citizens it allows to enter, either as short-term travellers or international journalists,” Vedant Patel, Principal Deputy Spokesperson, US State Department said, responding to a question from a Pakistani journalist.
“The Government of India can speak to its own visa policy. That is not something I am going to opine from here,” Patel added.
He, however, stressed on the role of the free press in the “fabric of democracy.”
“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,” Patel remarked.
Claims and counter-claims
On Tuesday, Avani Dias, the Australian journalist, took to X (formerly Twitter) claiming that she has been denied extension of her work visa, as her reporting “crossed a line.”
Dias arrived in New Delhi in January 2022 as the South Asia Bureau Chief of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC). She left on April 19, the day India voted in the first phase of the seven-phase national election.
{{/usCountry}}Dias arrived in New Delhi in January 2022 as the South Asia Bureau Chief of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC). She left on April 19, the day India voted in the first phase of the seven-phase national election.
{{/usCountry}}“We were also told that 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 (Prime Minister Narendra) Modi calls ‘the mother of democracy,’” she alleged in her X post.
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Rejecting the claims, a government official earlier this week, told Hindustan Times on the condition of anonymity, that Dias left because of “personal reasons.”
“She left because she had to meet the timeline for another job offer in Australia,” the official said.
(With ANI inputs)