India did not interfere in polls won by Trudeau, China did, says Canadian inquiry

A panel of senior Canadian officials monitoring the elections.

India did not attempt to meddle in Canadian politics, according to an official investigation into allegations of foreign interference in Canada elections.

A panel of senior Canadian officials monitoring the 2021elections stated that it found no evidence of any efforts by India to influence the national polls. "I do not believe that during the 2021 election we saw evidence of the Government of India using those tools in the campaign," a polling official told the investigation panel.

As per a News18 report, panelists, including former Deputy Foreign Minister, Marta Morgan and Former Cabinet Secretary, Janice Charette, provided testimony indicating no evidence of Indian interference in the 2021 election. Morgan stated there was no information on Indian disinformation within the Canadian information ecosystem, while Charette highlighted the absence of Indian government tactics in the campaign.

According to the Canadian Intelligence agency, China interfered in Canada's last two elections. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's Liberal Party won the elections held in 2019 and 2021.

Recently, the Canada Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) suggested that both India and Pakistan had tried interfering in the Canadian elections in 2019 and 2021. Following the allegation, the opposition legislators in Canada were unhappy about media reports on China's possible role. Trudeau then set up a commission to probe into foreign interference. He is scheduled to testify before the inquiry panel on April 10.

The findings that China interfered with Canada's election process are from the official investigation, news agency Reuters reported.

Earlier, India denied the allegations and assured its commitment to non-interference in democratic processes of other nations. "We have seen media reports about the Canadian commission inquiring into ...We strongly reject all such baseless allegations of Indian interference in Canadian elections. It is not the government of India's policy to interfere in the democratic processes of other countries. In fact, quite on the contrary, it is Canada which has been interfering in our internal affairs," External Affairs Ministry (EAM) Spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said recently.

Canada's investigation into foreign interference has already heightened tensions in an already strained relationship with India. Trudeau had earlier alleged Indian involvement in the killing of Khalistani separatist Hardeep Singh Nijjar on Canadian soil. Both nations had expelled the senior diplomats. India had also briefly halted visa operations. Since then, the foreign ministers of both nations met on multiple occasions, but little progress has been noted in the diplomatic arena.