Norwegian journalist denied permission to visit Hyderabad at last minute

Hyderabad: The alleged last-minute decision by the Central Government to deny Norwegian journalist Helle Lyng Svendsen permission to attend the Bharat Summit in Hyderabad has triggered a political controversy. She wondered whether the last-minute visa cancellation was due to her criticism of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his governance, industrialists Gautam Adani and Mukesh Ambani, and her views on the Cockroach Janata Party (CJP) movement.

The Norwegian journalist said in a post on X on Wednesday that she had been granted a visa to visit India and was scheduled to leave on Wednesday. She was invited as a panellist for a discussion on the future of media and press freedom at the two-day Bharat Summit, scheduled to begin in Hyderabad on Friday. However, her visa was cancelled by the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) at the last minute, Helle Lyng claimed in her post on X.

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 is my message for @AmitShah

— Helle Lyng (@HelleLyngSvends) November 11, 2026

In a video statement, she said the Indian Embassy in Norway called her just 10 minutes before she was due to leave for the airport and informed her that she could not travel to India. “I am a little confused. I have political clearance and a visa. I have a conference in Hyderabad, Telangana, waiting for me to arrive as a speaker,” she said.

Helle Lyng also raised several questions about the decision and its possible reasons, directing them at Union Home Minister Amit Shah. She alleged that the decision may have been politically motivated. She linked it to her questioning of Prime Minister Narendra Modi during his visit to Oslo in May 2026, when she said she had exercised her freedom of the press.

She also suggested that her criticism of Modi’s governance could have contributed to the decision. The journalist further pointed to her criticism of industrialists Gautam Adani and Mukesh Ambani, whom she described as close friends of the Prime Minister and two of India’s and Asia’s most powerful billionaires. She also cited her positive opinion pieces on the Cockroach Janata Party (CJP) movement and an interview she had conducted with Abhijeet Dipke about a month ago. She suggested that these could also be reasons for the visa denial.

Stating that there was still time for the decision to be reconsidered, Helle Lyng said the matter was now in the hands of the Union Home Minister. “What will the world’s largest democracy do? Will I be allowed to enter the country, or will I be denied entry despite having political clearance and a visa?” she asked.

Several people, particularly from the media, voiced support for the Norwegian journalist. Trinamool Congress MP Mahua Moitra also reacted to the development on X. She said she was ashamed that the Indian government had granted the journalist a visa but subsequently prevented her from travelling to the country. “Imagine if Norway had done this to any of us?” she asked.

Moitra also urged Indian Ambassador to Norway Gloria Gangte to formally convey to her superiors that such a decision was unacceptable.