Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s recent trip to Russia and his visible bonhomie with President Vladimir Putin has expectedly irked many in the West who have been slamming the close ties between the two countries under the guise of the Ukraine war. Now, the United States Ambassador to India Eric Garcetti has launched a veiled attack on the Indian prime minister and went so far as to threaten ties with the Western power. He, while speaking at the Defence News Conclave organised by CUTS International in Delhi on 11th July stated that India likes its strategic autonomy, however, no such thing exists during a conflict.
"Don't take this relationship for granted…stand in principle against War", US Ambassador Eric Garcetti on India US ties
— Sidhant Sibal (@sidhant) July 11, 2024
Source: CUTS defence conclave pic.twitter.com/mICnChs36p
Eric Garcetti remarked that “no war is distant any more” in today’s interconnected globe and that in addition to advocating for peace, people need to take proactive steps to ensure that those who don’t follow the norms of peace, their war machines “cannot continue unabated.” He mentioned, “I know and I respect that India likes its strategic autonomy. But in times of conflict, there is no such thing as strategic autonomy. We will, in crisis moments, need to know each other. I don’t care what title we put to it. Still, we will need to know that we are trusted friends, brothers and sisters, colleagues that, in times of need, in the next day, be acting together.” He specifically emphasised that the India-US relationship was wider and deeper than it’s ever been. Still, it was not profound enough to be taken “for granted.”
“It’s important for us as Americans and as Indians to remember the more we put into this relationship, the more we will get out. The more we insist on a kind of cynical calculation in the place of a trusted relationship, the less we will get. As I also remind my Indian friends, while it is wider and it is deeper than it’s ever been, it is not yet deep enough that if we take it for granted from the Indian side towards America. I’ll fight a lot of defence battles trying to help this relationship ahead,” he conveyed while talking about the relationship between the two nations. His scathing remarks were made just hours after Prime Minister Narendra Modi returned to Delhi after his two-country tour of Russia and Austria which have been a source of concern for the US State Department. It hopes that New Delhi will use its long-standing ties with Moscow to urge President Vladimir Putin to end the war in Ukraine.
The US diplomat claimed that in today’s interconnected world, “No war is distant anymore and we must not just stand for peace, we must take concrete actions to make sure those who don’t play by peaceful rules, that their war machines cannot continue unabated,” and added that US and India need to know this together. The American diplomat further voiced that India will have to decide between Russia and the US for its long-term military needs, acknowledging New Delhi’s dependency on Moscow for replacement parts for vintage Russian military hardware that makes up a sizable portion of the Indian armed forces’ inventory. According to him, US defence equipment exports have increased from “near zero in 2008 to approximately $25 billion in 2023.”
He also attempted to draw parallels between the situation on India’s northern border and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, pointing out that the world has “witnessed countries who ignore sovereign borders.” He remarked, “The past three years, we’ve witnessed countries that ignore certain borders. I don’t have to remind India how important borders are. That’s the central principle of peace in our world. That is when we stand on those principles and stand together. We can show that principles are the guiding light of peace in our world, and together, the world’s two largest democracies can enhance the security and the stability of our region.”
While the United States brushes aside concerns raised by its allies in pursuing its self-interest, it is always eager to lecture others when they follow the same policy— keeping self-interest above perceived notions of morality imposed by others. Unsurprisingly, these notions of morality do not apply to the US, which is still protecting Gurpatwant Singh Pannu, a Khalistani extremist deemed a terrorist by its ally, India. Instead, it has also extradited an Indian supposedly linked with an assassination plot to eliminate Pannun from Czech while showing no qualms in waging wars and missile strikes in the Middle East in pursuing its objectives of neutralising terrorists that pose a threat to the US interests in the region.
By contrast, PM Modi visited Russia, a strategic partner for India whose ties with New Delhi predates the relatively recent US-India bonhomie. Even during his visit, PM Modi emphasised the need to end the Ukraine war and told Vladimir Putin in an informal meeting that no solution can be found on the battleground. India has been forefront of the efforts to end the war in Ukraine, constantly making appeals to the warring sides to relinquish arms and engage in dialogue for a peaceful and amicable solution.
For its part, India has been constantly appealing to the warring sides to relinquish arms and engage in dialogue for a peaceful and amicable solution. However, the United States’ expectations that India will backstab its oldest strategic partner and take a maximalist stand on the Russia-Ukraine war are misguided and run counter to India’s longstanding stance of engaging in dialogue and espousing neutrality.
In philosophical terms, the US is ailing from moral relativism, imposing its dynamic sense of morality on its allies and expecting them to abide by it. But no self-respecting nation should be expected to shun morals it holds dear and hew to ethics completely alien to its culture and tradition.
The US’ penchant for meddling in the affairs of India
Notably, Eric Garcetti has a nefarious habit of meddling in India’s affairs. Last year, he faced criticism for pontificating on the bloodshed in Manipur and making derogatory comments about the status of affairs in India while blatantly ignoring the fact that there have been 332 gun attacks in his nation in 2023, accounting for nearly 21,000 fatalities. He alleged, “I don’t think it’s about strategic concerns, it’s about human concerns. You don’t have to be an Indian to care when children or individuals die in this sort of violence.”
He added, “We know peace is a precedent for so many good things. There has been so much progress in the Northeast and the East. The country has done some remarkable things in the East and those can’t continue without peace. We stand ready to assist in any way if asked. We know it’s an Indian matter and pray for that peace and that it may come quickly. Because we can bring more collaboration, projects, and investment if that peace is in place.”
The discontent expressed by the US and its Western allies following the meeting between PM Modi and President Putin is reminiscent of the popular statement made by External Affairs Minister Dr S Jaishankar that “Europe has to grow out of the mindset that its problems are world’s problems, but world’s problems aren’t Europe’s problems.” The Western nations have long been uncomfortable with India’s strong connection to Russia.
They have also long sought to control India’s foreign policy on matters that do not even concern them, all the while ignoring the latter’s genuine worries about funding Pakistan, which is known to be a haven for terrorists and has repeatedly violated the country’s borders. Interestingly, in the case of India, neither America nor other European nations appear to place the same weight on the necessity of respecting borders to preserve international peace.
