India rejects 'baseless allegations' of Indian interference in Canadian elections

New Delhi: The Ministry of External Affairs on Thursday rejected what it termed were the "baseless allegations" of Indian interference in Canadian elections, adding that it is Canada, who is interfering in our internal affairs.

MEA Spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal while addressing the weekly press briefing on Thursday said that they have seen the media reports of the Canadian Commission inquiring into foreign interferences.

"We strongly reject such baseless allegations of Indian interference in Canadian elections, it is not govt of India's policy to interfere in the democratic process of other countries, in fact, quite on the reverse it is Canada, which has been interfering in our internal affairs," he said.

Jaiswal further emphasized that India continues to call on Canada to take effective measures to address our core concerns.

"We have been raising this issue regularly with them, we continue to call on Canada to take effective measures to address our core concerns," he stated.

As reported earlier, Canada's federal commission of inquiry into foreign interference was looking to examine alleged meddling by India in the country's last two general elections, Canada-based CTV News reported.

The commission, in a statement, said it has asked the federal government to produce documentation related to these allegations. The statement signals the commission's intention to probe any role India might have played in influencing the two ballots, as per CTV News.

The commission's initial hearings will look at the challenges and limitations of disclosing classified national security information and intelligence to the public. According to CTV News, an interim report from the commission is due on May 3, with a final report expected by the end of the year.

(ANI)