New Delhi: With more than one-third of foreign speakers to the Congress party’s Bharat Summit barred from entering the country after having initially received clearance, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) offered its first response by merely asserting that visa matters were “sovereign functions” of a state.Congress Lok Sabha MP and chairman of the parliamentary standing committee on external affairs Shashi Tharoor tweeted on Friday (November 13) that around 115 of the 315 speakers cleared by the MEA had either been refused entry or had their visas cancelled, apparently on the instructions of the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA).At the bi-weekly media briefing, MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal, responding to a question on the visa cancellations, said, “I would like to say, and all of you are aware, that visa matters are sovereign functions of any country or any government. So, that is what I have to say.”He did not clarify why the list of foreign delegates had initially received MEA clearance and visas had been granted, only for the MHA to subsequently withdraw some of those permissions.The MEA’s response came a day after news first emerged of the large number of foreign invitees who had been denied entry into the country for the Bharat Summit.Among those denied entry was Norwegian journalist Helle Lyng, who came into the spotlight in India in May when she asked visiting Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Oslo whether he would “take questions from the freest press in the world”.As The Wire had established, the MEA had cleared a list of foreign nationals, including Lyng, who were subsequently issued visas. She was later informed, before her departure, that her visa had been withdrawn.According to government FAQs prepared for such events, Indian missions are required to refer visa cases to the MEA or the MHA only in certain specified circumstances, a source had told The Wire on Thursday.In his post, Tharoor said it was a “disappointing footnote” to learn, on reaching Hyderabad, that “115 of the 315 speakers whom the External Affairs Ministry had cleared for the event ended up being refused entry to India or having their visas cancelled, apparently on the instructions of the Ministry of Home Affairs”.He said it was “completely unclear” under which law the government had taken the step. The action had also come at very short notice, leaving no scope for any changes before the conference concluded on Saturday.“What a shame that a proud democracy has become so insecure that it must stifle any voices it fears will be critical!”