Canada polls: No Indian interference in 2021 elections, official probe finds
Virendra Pandit
New Delhi: Debunking their own intelligence agencies’ claims, an official investigation into the 2021 elections in Canada has concluded that India did not interfere in the polls won by the current Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, the media reported on Wednesday.
A panel of senior Canadian officials monitoring the 2021 elections in the North American nation were not informed of any attempt by India to influence the national polls, the probe found.
An official investigation into the allegations of foreign meddling in Canadian elections has concluded that India didn’t try to interfere in Canadian politics.
“I do not believe during the 2021 election that we saw evidence of the Government of India using those tools in the campaign,” a poll official told the probe panel.
However, the Canadian intelligence agency found that China did interfere in Canada’s last two elections, according to testimony in an official probe.
This revelation came days after the Canada Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) claimed that India and Pakistan attempted to interfere in the Canadian elections that took place in 2019 and 2021.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s Liberal Party won both the elections, held in 2019 and 2021. Under pressure from opposition legislators unhappy about media reports on China’s possible role, Trudeau set up a commission to probe into an alleged foreign interference.
PM Trudeau is scheduled to testify before the probe panel today.
India had earlier refuted the Canadian claims and assured its commitment to non-interference in other nations’ democratic processes.
“We have seen media reports about the Canadian commission enquiring into it…We strongly reject all such baseless allegations of Indian interference in Canadian elections,” External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said in February.
“It is not the Government of India’s policy to interfere in the democratic processes of other countries. Quite on the reverse, it is Canada which has been interfering in our internal affairs,” he added.
Canada’s inquiry into foreign meddling escalated tensions in already strained ties between the two countries.
Trudeau’s previous allegations of Indian involvement in the killing of Khalistani terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar on Canadian soil became a flashpoint in bilateral relations between the two nations last year.
Despite India’s dismissal of these allegations as absurd, the fallout resulted in diplomatic repercussions.
