After China and Russia, the Commission on Foreign Interference now wants to add India to the list of countries whose potential interference it wishes to study in the last two Canadian elections.
She made the announcement on Wednesday, officially asking the Canadian government to provide her with documents related to possible Indian interference during the 2019 and 2021 federal elections.
The Commission did not refer to any particular event or politician in connection with this request.
India under the microscope
India repeatedly made headlines at home last year, notably after Prime Minister Justin Trudeau blamed Indian agents for the murder of a Sikh activist last June. What followed was a major diplomatic crisis with India temporarily stopping the issuance of visas and the expulsion of diplomats from both sides.
After China, various media outlets have also started reporting allegations regarding Indian interference in recent months.
The Bureau notably reported that agents of the Indian government would have interfered in the race for the leadership of the Conservative Party in 2022, according to a document from the Canadian Security Intelligence Service dated October 2022.
Last summer, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s national security advisor, Jody Thomas, declared that India constituted one of the main sources of foreign interference in Canada.
The Commission on Foreign Interference, scheduled to begin at the end of January, is to look into interference activities that occurred during the 2019 and 2021 federal elections. Next, the commission will examine the ability of the government apparatus “to detect , to prevent and counter such acts of interference.