17 hours Ago
NEW DELHI: Canada continues to interfere in India's internal affairs, creating an "environment for illegal migration and organised criminal activities", the Centre said on Wednesday in a statement that strongly rubbished a Canadian inquiry commission report alleging interference by India in the country's internal affairs. "We reject the report's insinuations on India and expect that the support system enabling illegal migration will not be further countenanced," said foreign ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal. New Delhi's mention of illegal migration is significant as it comes amid a surge in the number of Indians looking to make their way unlawfully into US through Canada border.
According to reports from Ottawa on Tuesday, an inquiry into foreign interference in Canada's recent elections called on intel agencies and federal govt to urgently reform how they respond to "meddling" by China, India and other state actors before the next national polls. The report alleged India is the second-most active country engaging in foreign interference in Canada. Canada report accused India of dis-info tactics It (India) uses disinformation as a key tactic that may be used more often in the future, and it may have attempted to clandestinely provide financial support to preferred candidates during the 2021 election without the candidates' knowledge," the report in Canada said.
India, however, has maintained that it is Canada that has sought to interfere in Indian affairs, and had expelled 41 Canadian diplomats in 2023, even accusing them of supporting terrorist activities. This followed a diplomatic row over the killing of a Sikh separatist, for which Ottawa blamed the Indian govt. According to US authorities, over 40,000 Indian nationals attempted entry through that route last year.
The Indian govt has been under pressure from the Trump administration to take back close to 18,000 Indian nationals facing final removal order..
