THE final report of the Public Inquiry into Foreign Interference in Federal Electoral Processes and Democratic Institutions of Canada was released on January 28, 2025.
The report concluded that the 43rd and 44th general elections conducted in 2019 and 2021 respectively were subjected to foreign interference.
The inquiry commission was mandated to examine and assess the foreign interference at the level of states and non-state actors and potential impacts it made on the election process.
Indian interference has been established in the inquiry report, although the inbuilt system of the Canadian election process saved the integrity of the electoral system itself and party positions remains unchanged at the end of election processes.
Nevertheless, the findings of the report has mentioned India as a state which undertook political interference and transnational repression in Canada that also include ‘targeting Sikh activists and Pro-Khalistan movement in Canada emphasizing both community-level and state-directive measures.’
The Indian interference in the election process of Canada has raised serious questions about India’s claims of being the world’s largest democracy.
This interference has also exposed India’s designs against democracies globally, particularly in Europe and the Americas.
Indeed, under Prime Minister Modi, the Indian government appears to have a global agenda aimed at interfering in the affairs of other states.
To achieve this, the Indian Diaspora and expatriates are specially trained, constantly monitored, and directed to undertake such activities in their host countries through covert means.
This strategy has created alarm in the West, which has accommodated the largest Indian Diaspora over the past four decades.
The United States, Canada, and the European Union host this large Diaspora across various fields.
A significant portion of it belongs to the Sikh community, which primarily migrated in the 1980s and thereafter, fleeing the repression they faced from the Indian government and the Hindu majority following the assassination of Prime Minister Indira Gandhi in 1984.
In 2023, the Indian government was directly named by the Canadian government in connection with the killing of pro-Khalistan movement Sikh leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar.
He was killed in Canada in June 2023 by Indian RAW agents.
Later, in March 2024, India shared findings of its investigation with the United States about murder attempts on Sikh leaders in New York, claiming that rogue government operatives were involved in these incidents.
In 2023, the U.S.administration uncovered a plot to kill several Sikh leaders in the United States.
The most prominent among these leaders was Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, a separatist Sikh leader, whom Indian RAW officials had planned to assassinate in New York on executive orders from New Delhi.
It was U.S.intelligence that provided secret information to the Canadian government regarding the killing of Hardeep Singh Nijjar.
In connection with the killing of pro-independence (Khalistan movement) leaders, RAW has devised an extensive strategy.
This includes the posting of RAW agents in Indian embassies across various European countries, the United States, and Canada, wherever Sikh communities are present.
It is important to note that there was a massive migration of Sikhs following the Indian government’s military operation against them after Indira Gandhi’s assassination.
Following the assassination attempt on Gurpatwant Singh Pannun in New York, U.S.intelligence agencies identified and traced the footprints of Indian RAW agents behind the attacks on Sikh leaders in the U.S.
According to U.S.media, ‘A foiled plot to assassinate a prominent Sikh separatist leader in New York, just days after another activist’s killing, was meant to precede a series of other politically motivated murders in the United States and Canada.’ U.S. intelligence confirmed that, along with Hardeep Singh Nijjar, RAW agents had planned to kill at least four prominent Sikh leaders in June 2023.
Owing to timely surveillance and intelligence, the US was able to foil killings of Sikh leaders in its various cities and also informed the Canadian Government to take necessary measures for the protection of Sikh leaders.
As disclosed by a British newspaper, the target this time was Mr Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, General Counsel of the “Sikhs for Justice” Movement.
The Indian Government was infuriated with him since he along with thousands of workers is working for Independent Khalistan.
Moreover, he asked all Sikhs not to travel by Air India.
Killing of Hardeep Singh Nijjar on Canadian soil attracted international attention and deep anger of Sikh community.
Over the last few years, India has escalated its political interference and transnational repression, raising serious alarms among Western democracies as it actively undermines political sovereignty in the west.
India is undertaking state-directed and community-level operations to suppress dissent, manipulate foreign political discourse, and silence critics globally.
In Canada, Indian intelligence and diplomatic networks have aggressively targeted Sikh activists and pro-Khalistan supporters, engaging in covert influence campaigns to reshape public narratives, intimidate community leaders, and suppress political activism.
As assessed by a Canadian inquiry report, India is a “moderate to high” threat to Canadian democracies.
Besides, Indian interference in Canada is systematic and multifaceted; ranging from political lobbying, media manipulation and economic coercion to spying on activists and threatening opposition figures abroad.
It is about time that Europeans and Canadians must act decisively against non-democratic actions of India.
The West must formally impose sanctions on India until it stops its subversive activities against all those countries where India has a huge Diaspora.
— The writer is Professor of Politics and IR at International Islamic University, Islamabad.
(drmkedu@gmail.com)
