New Delhi: A public inquiry into foreign interference in Canada has alleged that Indian officials sought to influence Canadian communities and politicians to “align” Ottawa’s position with New Delhi’s interests on Sikh separatism and other issues.
This comes hours after Canadian police arrested three Indian nationals in connection with the murder of Sikh separatist Hardeep Singh Nijjar on Canadian soil last June.
An interim report published by the Canadian government Friday states: “Indian officials, including Canada-based proxies, engage in a range of activities that seek to influence Canadian communities and politicians.”
“These activities include foreign interference, which aim to align Canada’s position with India’s interests on key issues, particularly with respect to how the Indian government perceives Canada-based supporters of an independent Sikh homeland (Khalistan),” it adds.
It also mentions that “targets” of Indian foreign interference are often members of the Indo-Canadian communities.
The original mandate of the inquiry was to look into Chinese and Russian interference in the 2019 and 2021 federal elections in Canada. But the probe eventually expanded into the potential foreign interference of countries like Iran, Pakistan and India.
The interim report quotes an intelligence briefing from 2021, which found evidence of foreign interference during the 2019 election “directed largely from China, and to a lesser extent from India and Pakistan, through the use of human agents”. It adds, however, that these activities didn’t meet the threshold to pursue criminal investigations.
Commissioner Marie-Josée Hogue, a justice of the Court of Appeal of Quebec, led the independent public inquiry. She was appointed as commissioner to the inquiry last September.
In March, individuals like Jaskaran Sandhu, a board member of the World Sikh Organisation and founder of the pro-separatist Baaz media outlet, spoke in front of the inquiry.
The Indian government is yet to respond to the findings of the interim report.
However, in the past, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) has rejected what it termed “baseless allegations” from Ottawa and argued that Canada has interfered in New Delhi’s affairs.
“In fact, it is quite the reverse. It is Canada which has been interfering in our internal affairs. We have been raising this issue regularly with them. We continue to call on Canada to take effective measures to address our core concerns,” MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal told Indian media in February this year.
‘India views Khalistani sentiment as a threat’
The public inquiry states that India’s interest in Canada relates to the Sikh community, especially elements that support the creation of a separate Sikh state known as Khalistan. It further accuses New Delhi of failing to differentiate between lawful Sikh advocacy and extremist elements.
“India views part of these communities as fostering an anti-India sentiment, and represents a threat to Indian stability and national security. India does not differentiate between lawful, pro-Khalistani political advocacy and the relatively small Canada-based Khalistani violent extremism,” says the report.
India “views anyone aligned with Khalistani separatism as a seditious threat to India,” it adds.
It also adds that Indian proxy agents may have attempted to interfere in democratic processes, including via “illicit financial support” to various Canadian politicians.
However, it maintains that there was no indication of India-based disinformation campaigns in the 2021 general election.
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