The Canada-India rivalry took another step forward. Recently, Canadian intelligence has accused India and Pakistan of interfering in Canadian elections. India, however, denied the allegations.
Canada’s Central Intelligence Agency (CSIS) recently released extracts of an investigative report alleging that Pakistan and India were secretly active in the 2019 and 2021 general elections, respectively. Intelligence claims they wanted to influence the Canadian elections. According to them, in 2021, the Indian government conducted separate surveillance of Indian-dominated constituencies in Canada. ย Pro-Khalistan and pro-Pakistan voters were targeted. Canada claims that there was an attempt to sway public opinion by creating proxy agents in exchange for money.
Similarly, in 2019, Pakistan was allegedly active in fueling its own interests. In January of this year, Canada moved forward with regard to this investigation. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau decided to investigate the whole matter after an intelligence report about China’s influence in Canada was leaked last year. Along with China, Russia, India, and Pakistan are also named.
Also read
Indiaโs stock market in March saw foreign investment of 38 thousand crore rupees
India, however, dismissed all these allegations as baseless from the beginning. In February, the spokesperson of the Ministry of External Affairs, Randhir Jaiswal, said, “I learned about the investigation of the Canadian Commission in the media. We vehemently deny baseless allegations of Indian interference in Canadian elections. It is not India’s policy to interfere in the democratic processes of other countries. Rather, the opposite is true. It is Canada that is poking its nose into our internal affairs.”
However, there’s a chance that tensions between Canada and India will flare up this weekend in advance of the Indian election. The two nations’ diplomatic ties have soured ever since Trudeau claimed that India was complicit in the murder of Khalistani militant leader Nijjar. It is anticipated that before the situation is resolved, this new round of accusations will make things more difficult.
Also read
Canadaโs oil industry will turn around in a $10 billion โwrong projectโ
