Canada’s Liberal Party has barred Indian-origin MP Chandra Arya’s bid to run for the party leadership and revoked his nomination in his Nepean seat over alleged foreign interference, which concerns India, media reports said.
Arya met Indian PM Narendra Modi during his visit to India last year.
A source told The Globe And Mail that Chandra Arya had not informed Canada’s government of that trip even though bilateral relations are in a deep freeze over accusations that India carried out murder and other violent acts in Canada.
The party did not reveal the official reason behind barring the three-term Liberal MP from the party’s recent leadership race.
Liberal Leader Mark Carney will run from the constituency for the April 28 polls.
He is the first Prime Minister in the country to govern before being elected to the post.
Arya’s Ties With India
A source told The Globe And Mail that the Canadian Security Intelligence Service had briefed the government about Chandra Arya’s alleged close ties to the government of India, including its High Commission in Ottawa.
Liberal Party officials who have security clearances and have received a general CSIS briefing on foreign interference also have concerns about Arya, a Liberal source said.
The decisions to remove Arya as a candidate for leadership and the Nepean nomination were solely made by the Liberal Party and were not based on the advice of CSIS, both sources said.
Party officials, in charge of monitoring foreign meddling, found troubling inconsistencies in information that Arya had put in a confidential questionnaire, the second source said.
Arya Rejects Allegations
Chandra Arya, however, rejected the allegations levelled against him and wrote on Facebook: “As a Member of Parliament, I have engaged with numerous diplomats and heads of government, both in Canada and internationally. Not once have I sought—nor been required to seek—permission from the government to do so. ”
“At no point did former Prime Minister Justin Trudeau or any cabinet minister raise concerns about my meetings or public statements,” he said.
Arya, who is seen as a vocal critic of Khalistani elements in the country, further wrote: “The sole point of contention with the Liberal Party has been my outspoken advocacy on issues important to Hindu Canadians and my firm stance against Khalistani extremism.”
Pakistan May Meddle
Canada on Monday warned Pakistan may interfere in the country’s April 28 general polls in its attempt to counter India’s ‘growing global influence’.
“The government of Pakistan could potentially conduct foreign interference activities against Canada in line with its strategic aims to promote political, security and economic stability in Pakistan and to counter India’s growing global influence,” Vanessa Lloyd, the deputy director of operations at the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS), told a press conference as quoted by the media.
Alerts Against India, China, Russia
The Canadian official also warned that India can interfere in the polls to assert its geopolitical influence.
“We have also seen that the government of India has the intent and capability to interfere in Canadian communities and democratic processes to assert its geopolitical influence,” she was quoted as saying by The Canadian Press.
He said China can use Artificial Intelligence tools to execute its meddling attempts.
Canada’s New PM
Canada’s Liberal Party leader Mark Carney took the oath as the country’s new Prime Minister in Ottawa last week, succeeding Justin Trudeau.
An entirely new Cabinet was sworn in on March 14 after which both Ottawa and New Delhi now hope to rebuild ties, which have hit a historic low in recent times.
Responding to a question on Canada during a weekly press briefing, India’s Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal earlier said: “The downturn in India-Canada relations was caused by the license that was given to the extremist and secessionist elements in the country.”
Shortly before taking the oath as Prime Minister, Mark Carney had also expressed his eagerness to rebuild ties with “like-minded countries”.
“What Canada will be looking to do is to diversify our trading relationships with like-minded countries – and there are opportunities to rebuild the relationship with India. There needs to be a shared sense of values around that commercial relationship, and once I am the prime minister, I look forward to the opportunity to build that,” he had said.
Strained India-Canada Relations
India and Canada’s tussle was triggered after ex-Prime Minister Justin Trudeau accused Indian officials of being involved in the killing of Khalistani separatist Hardeep Singh Nijjar.
India had then expelled six Canadian diplomats and asked them to leave the country after Ottawa said it was investigating the Indian ambassador and other diplomats as “persons of interest” in connection with the killing of a Sikh separatist leader last year.
Canada, too, asked six Indian diplomats to leave the country, alleging that its police reportedly got hold of evidence that they claimed to be a part of an Indian government “campaign of violence”.
The Indian government had also decided to withdraw its High Commissioner in Canada after Ottawa’s accusations, which the Modi government called an act of “vote bank politics”.
(With inputs from IBNS)
