Why is Canada accusing India and Pakistan of election interference?

The South Asian rivals have been waging parallel influence operations in Canada, according to Ottawa’s top spy agency.

Canada’s main spy agency has accused India and Pakistan of trying to meddle in the country’s last two general elections.

The reports made public last week were presented as part of a federal commission of inquiry investigating interference by foreign nations, including China and Russia, in the 2019 and 2021 national votes.

The Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) said India’s government tried to interfere in the 2019 and 2021 elections using “clandestine activities” targeting certain electoral districts in the country and select politicians.

The CSIS in a separate document accused Islamabad of covertly trying to influence politics at the federal level before the 2019 elections to advance Pakistani interests.

It is rare for governments to level allegations against other sovereign nations – and Canada traditionally has viewed both India and Pakistan as partners. But the accusations were levelled amid mounting tensions between Canada and India and a broader worry within Canada that foreign actors have been trying to shape its electoral outcomes.

Here are the details of what the CSIS alleged – and the implications.

According to the CSIS documents, reviewed by Al Jazeera, “proxy agents” of the Indian government tried to influence the 2019 and 2021 elections with the aim to “align Canada’s positions with India’s interests on key issues, particularly with respect to how the Gol [government of India] perceives Canada-based supporters of an independent Sikh homeland that they refer to as Khalistan”.

This, the CSIS report alleged, was done “through the clandestine provision of illicit financial support