Ottawa: Canada warns that China and India may try to interfere in the upcoming election, while Russia and Pakistan pose potential threats.

Canadian Security Intelligence Services (CSIS) commented while Ottawa’s relationship with India and China remained tense. Beijing and New Delhi have denied previous allegations of interference.

Canada responded slowly to attempts to intervene in China and India in the 2019 and 2021 elections, but the formal investigation concluded in January that their intervention would not affect the outcome.

Vanessa Lloyd, deputy director of operations at CSIS, told the press conference that hostile state actors are increasingly using artificial intelligence to intervene in elections.

“The People’s Republic of China (People’s Republic of China) is likely to use AI-enabled tools to try to interfere with Canada’s democratic process in the current election,” she said.

Earlier this month, Beijing announced tariffs on Canadian agriculture and food worth more than $2.6 billion, in retaliation against Ottawa’s Los Angeles electric vehicles, steel and aluminum products.

Canada said last week that China executed four Canadian citizens on drug smuggling charges, strongly condemning Beijing’s use of the death penalty.

Last year, Canada expelled six Indian diplomats, including the mission leader, for accusing them of participating in a plot against Sikh separatists on Canadian land.

“We also see that the Indian government has the intention and ability to interfere in Canadian communities and democratic processes,” Lloyd said.

The Chinese and Indian diplomatic missions in Ottawa did not immediately comment.

Lloyd added that Russia and Pakistan can also conduct foreign intervention activities in Canada.

“It is often difficult to establish a direct link between foreign intervention and election results…but this threat erodes the public’s trust in Canada’s democratic process and institutional integrity,” she said.