Canada Accuses Indian Businessman of Foreign Interference, Disinformation

• Feb 28, 2025

A split-level home in south Edmonton, with a brick facade and a spruce tree in front, serves as the unlikely Canadian headquarters of the Indian conglomerate, the Srivastava Group.

Run by a New Delhi-based family, the company asserts it has offices in Belgium, Switzerland, and Canada, where it operates in the newspaper and oil and gas industries. However, Canadian national security officials have alleged that the Srivastava Group and its senior executive have been involved in covert activities.

According to public records obtained by Global News, in 2009, Indian intelligence agencies "tasked" the Srivastava Group’s vice-chair with influencing Canadian politicians.

Indian intelligence directed Ankit Srivastava to identify "random Caucasian politicians and attempt to direct them into supporting issues that impacted India," the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) reported.

Srivastava was allegedly instructed "to provide financial assistance and propaganda material to the politicians in order to exert influence over them," CSIS wrote in a 2015 report.

A subsequent CSIS report in 2021 accused Srivastava’s company of registering fake websites posing as news outlets, some of them Canadian. "The objective of these fake media publications is to push a pro-India rhetoric and publish content that is critical of Pakistan," the classified report stated.

A ‘Serious Threat to Canada’

Immigration officials, concerned that Srivastava could undermine elections, deemed him a "serious threat to Canada" and denied him entry. "The information before me continues to suggest that the Srivastava Group maintained multiple fake news websites, some of which purported to be Canadian in origin," the immigration department wrote.

Officials argued that these websites could be used to manipulate public opinion and influence voters, potentially undermining Canadian democracy and electoral integrity.

The case emerges amid an escalating campaign of alleged foreign interference by the Indian government, which Canada claims has included disinformation, political meddling, and even violence.

In its January 28 report, Canada’s foreign interference commission suggested that Indian agents may have provided "illicit financial support" to politicians to promote pro-India candidates or gain leverage over them.

While the inquiry did not identify individuals, the government’s allegations against Srivastava, and his denials, are detailed in hundreds of pages of public documents filed in Federal Court in Ottawa.

These records indicate that Canadian authorities are using the immigration system as a battleground against Indian foreign interference and disinformation.

CSIS declined to comment.

Srivastava has spent nearly a decade denying these allegations, and he has won two Federal Court rulings in his favor, most recently last month.

"The allegations against him are based on unreasonable inferences which are unsubstantiated and from unreliable sources," his lawyer, Lorne Waldman, said.

The Businessman and the Intelligence Agencies

Srivastava, 42, was born in India, studied in Geneva, and honeymooned in Bora Bora with his Canadian wife, who later sponsored him for immigration as her spouse.

"My husband is a successful business owner in India and would like to expand his business in Canada in the field of media and natural gas exploration," she wrote in her 2014 application.

"He has already started the research of expanding his newspaper in Canada with the name of Canadian Politics Today, where this media would target majorly on activities of the government."

Before granting him residency, Canadian officials interviewed Srivastava at the High Commission in New Delhi on June 16, 2015. A month later, CSIS submitted its security screening report to the Canada Border Services Agency.

According to CSIS, Srivastava admitted to frequent meetings with India’s Intelligence Bureau (IB) and foreign intelligence service, the Research and Analysis Wing (RAW).

CSIS reported that Srivastava "revealed that he was tasked by RAW to covertly influence Canadian government representatives and agencies on behalf of the Indian government."

CSIS stated that Srivastava was instructed to convince Canadian politicians that funds from Canada were being sent to Pakistan to support terrorism—a long-standing Indian government claim.

"Furthermore, Mr. Srivastava stated that RAW had also tasked him to meet with government officials in Belgium and Canada in an effort to influence their views in favor of the Indian government," CSIS added.

Srivastava allegedly met his "IB and RAW handlers outside of Canada at least every two months, with the last meeting in May 2015."

He maintained that he "had no choice but to cooperate with RAW and IB," but emphasized that he "had not been successful in his efforts."

Calling the matter a "gross misunderstanding," Srivastava denied financing politicians but acknowledged that Indian intelligence "offered to compensate me for my assistance."

"But I refused this flatly," he said.

Srivastava insisted that his interactions with Indian intelligence agencies were in his capacity as a journalist, given that his company owns the New Delhi Times. He argued that he merely engaged with IB and RAW officers "as a media person for the purposes of gathering news."

Despite his claims, Canada’s immigration department denied his permanent residence application, alleging reasonable grounds to believe he was involved in espionage. He appealed to the Federal Court, which ruled in his favor in 2020, sending his application back for reassessment.

By that time, however, new allegations had surfaced.

The ‘Disinformation Campaigns’

The Srivastava Group presents itself as a rapidly expanding Indian business empire with a "leadership position" in key industries, including natural resources, clean energy, aerospace, consulting, healthcare, media, and publishing.

However, its headquarters shares the same New Delhi address Srivastava listed on his immigration forms, while its Canadian "office" is a modest Edmonton home owned by his in-laws.

Corporate records indicate that this home is the official base for three Srivastava Group entities: New Delhi Times Inc., A2N Energy, and A2N International Trading Corp., all managed by Srivastava and his wife.

Despite its stated mission to "educate" and "build healthier lives," the Srivastava Group has been accused of activities that Canadian authorities consider harmful to democracy.

In 2019 and 2020, the Brussels-based investigative group EU DisinfoLab linked the Srivastava Group to "a pro-India influence network."

The operation sought to "discredit nations in conflict with India, particularly Pakistan, and to a lesser extent, China," EU DisinfoLab reported. Methods allegedly included impersonating UN-accredited non-profits and operating fake media outlets targeting South Asian communities in Canada.

Immigration authorities, citing these reports, told Srivastava in 2022 that allowing him to immigrate would compromise Canada’s national security.

The report accused Srivastava’s brother’s company, Aglaya Scientific Aerospace Technology Systems, of selling cyberwarfare tools used for hacking and surveillance.

Srivastava denied any role in Aglaya or in spreading disinformation, calling EU DisinfoLab’s findings unreliable.

Despite Canada’s rejection of his immigration application, a Federal Court judge ruled on January 31, 2025, that the connection between Srivastava and his brother’s company was not adequately established. The case was sent back for yet another review.

Meanwhile, Srivastava’s Edmonton operations have largely disappeared. His businesses face dissolution, his company’s website is offline, and the listed offices are empty. However, he continues to write for his newspaper, praising Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s diplomacy and leadership.