Canada initiates probe against India in alleged election meddling: report
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Ottawa: The independent commission probing foreign interference in Canadian affairs has asked the Justin Trudeau government to supply information about India’s possible meddling in elections in the country.
The move to bring India under the purview of probe in election meddling alongside China could worsen the already tense situation between New Delhi and Ottawa, according to Reuters.
Trudeau government set up the commission in September to probe possible foreign meddling in Canadian affairs following allegation of China influencing the country’s elections, which China denied.
The commission is said to have asked Wednesday the Canadian government to supply documents ‘relating to alleged interference by India related to the 2019 and 2021 elections,’ according to Reuters.
The commission, led by Quebec Judge Marie-Josee Hogue, said that it will ‘examine the flow of information within the federal government in relation to these issues’.
The commission, according to the report, will ‘assess the federal government's capacity to detect, deter, and counter foreign interference, and make recommendations on these issues’.
The commission is tasked to complete an interim report by May 3 and final report by this year end after probing into ‘allegations of attempted foreign interference in Canadian affairs by China, Russia and others’.
Diplomatic relations between India and Canada have hit a blind alley after Canadian PM Justin Trudeau accused India of having involvement in the murder of Sikh separatist Hardeep Singh Nijjar in British Columbia last year.
Meanwhile, the Indian High Commission in Ottawa has not yet responded to the latest development.
