Canada has once again hurled an allegation of likely interference by India in the Canadian general election that is expected to take place next month.
New Delhi: Canada has once again hurled an allegation of likely interference by India in the Canadian general election that is expected to take place next month. Canada has earlier too levelled such allegations, which had been dismissed as baseless by New Delhi. India had stated a few months ago that it was in fact Canada which has been interfering in India’s internal affairs. Ottawa meanwhile also accused Beijing of likely interference, adding that Russia and Pakistan could also potentially conduct foreign interference activities against Canada.
Addressing a press conference on the April 28 snap election called by Prime Minister Mark Carney, the deputy director of operations at the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS), Ms Vanessa Lloyd, said that "hostile state actors" were increasingly leveraging artificial intelligence to meddle in the polls, according to reports. "The PRC (People's Republic of China) is highly likely to use AI-enabled tools to attempt to interfere with Canada's democratic process in this current election," she was quoted as saying in media reports, adding that China is also "highly likely" to use the social media to promote narratives favourable to its interests and to specifically target Chinese ethnic, cultural and religious communities in Canada using "clandestine and deceptive" means.
"We have also seen that the Government of India has the intent and capability to interfere in Canadian communities and democratic processes to assert its geopolitical influence,” Ms Lloyd was quoted as saying.
It may be recalled that ties between the two nations had plummeted relentlessly after then Prime Minister Justin Trudeau had accused India one and a half years ago of involvement in the killing of pro-Khalistan extremist Hardeep Singh Nijjar on Canadian soil in June 2023, but New Delhi had then dismissed the allegations as “absurd”. Dismissing Canadian allegations of India’s involvement in the killing of Nijjar, the Indian government had last year told Parliament that “Canada has presented no evidence whatsoever in support of the serious allegations it has chosen to level”, adding that “in addition, its public narrative on this issue appears to be in service of an anti-India separatist agenda”. The government had also told Parliament last year in a written reply that "India has had, and continues to have a challenging relationship with Canada primarily because of the political space provided by the Canadian government to extremist and secessionist elements who advocate an anti-India agenda, and have been misusing Canadian freedoms for carrying out violent activities that threaten India’s sovereignty and territorial integrity".
It may be recalled that Canada had said last year that it had expelled six Indian diplomats, including the Indian high commissioner, while New Delhi had swiftly retaliated by expelling the same number of Canadian diplomats, including the Canadian acting high commissioner and deputy high commissioner. New Delhi had said it first recalled its six diplomats, including its high commissioner, and other “targeted” diplomats soon after it received a communication from the Canadian government which “suggested that the Indian high commissioner in Ottawa and other diplomats are ‘persons of interest’ in a matter related to an investigation in that country”, a reference to the matter of the probe into Nijjar’s killing.
