Norwegian journalist Helle Linge Svendsen, who had questioned Prime Minister Narendra Modi during his visit to Norway, has had her Indian travel visa canceled at the last minute.
The Bharat Summit, organized by the Telangana government in Hyderabad, began on Nov. 12 and has been underway since then.
At this conference, Norwegian journalist Helle Linge Svendsen was scheduled to take part in a discussion on the future of the media.
Although the Indian embassy had issued her a visa for travel to India, Indian authorities canceled it a few hours before her trip to Hyderabad.
While she was about to depart from Oslo for Hyderabad, officials at the Indian Embassy in Oslo contacted her and informed Helle that her visa had been canceled and that, therefore, she could not travel to India.
Regarding this, Helle said in a post on X,
“I had been granted a visa to travel to India. I was about to leave to attend the Bharat Summit to be held in Hyderabad. I had been invited to participate as both a speaker and a panelist in a discussion on the future of the media and media freedom.
“However, my visa has been canceled due to a ‘top-level order’ from the Home Ministry,” he said in a video posted while tagging Union Home Minister Amit Shah.
Opposition leaders and members of the media are expressing condemnation over the cancellation of Helle Ling Svendson’s visa.
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.
— Helle Lyng (@HelleLyngSvends) November 11, 2026
But «orders from above» in the Ministry of Home Affairs have cancelled my visa.
Here… pic.twitter.com/ihAuZdUCmc
The one who questioned Modi
Last May, after bilateral talks between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre in Oslo, the two held a joint press conference.
At that time, a Norwegian woman journalist named Helle Lyng Svendsen caused a stir by asking Prime Minister Modi, “Why should India be trusted amid allegations of human rights violations?”
It had already been announced that the leaders would not answer any questions at the press conference, and both leaders left without facing the question.
Following this, Helle Lyng Svendsen’s post on X stating that India lags behind in press freedom became a major topic of international debate.
