NEW YORK: What is missing from Garcetti’s 1st Year in India video is any mention of serious threats to India’s security, and how the US will work with India to contain regional conflict.
On 13 May 2024, US Ambassador Eric Garcetti celebrated his first year in India with a theatrical video, posted on his X feed, replete with actors, props, gags and snacks, set to a sweeping superhero musical score. It appears that the US embassy’s communications team—scrambling to contain the fallout from Garcetti’s exoneration of terrorist Gurpatwant Singh Pannun in April 2024, and President Biden’s recent declaration that Japan and India were “xenophobic”—conceived this promotional video to push “cultural diplomacy”, but the result is Dumbing Diplomacy Down.
The video opens with Garcetti dangling a pen while aides pile papers on his lap, cheerfully reciting the script, which appears in subtitles: “What a year its’ been—with lots of agreements, lots of paperwork, and lots of Deshi Kadak Chai!” Garcetti gulps tea from a clay cup, then jaunts over to the wall of portraits of former US envoys to straighten an askew photo of what looks like Amb. John Gunther Dean, which suggests—what, exactly? That US embassy staff don’t keep things tidy?
As Garcetti strolls through the Chancery, he displays photos of his exciting travels, slips on a gaudy necklace, strums a miniature sitar, slaps the hand of an aide proffering a plate of snacks and quips “Hey, that’s MY Chole!” Garcetti lauds Indo-US trade agreements, joking, “That’s a lot of almonds for a lot of mangoes!” Garcetti touts India-US military exercises, walking past a group of young people performing jumping jacks, and cracks “Not those kinds of exercises, but good job, Marines!” Citing a joint satellite venture, Garcetti reads; “From the seabeds to the stars, the India US relationship is reaching new heights, including all the way to space.” An aide then proffers a weeping toddler, whom Garcetti clutches as he reads, “So, you know, young babies like Teigen here will enjoy a future, in which, sure he’s crying now, but one day will be happy we put him in space.” The toddler is handed off as Garcetti pivots to solar panels and electric buses, with a new swag slogan “We walk the green walk!”
Garcetti then pushes a passport cart through the consular section, proclaiming “1.4 million visas were processed last year!” The music swells as youthful actors in Indian dress leap into views to shower Garcetti with confetti. And the final promo: “This past year I’ve fallen in love with cricket!” Garcetti swings a bat and says “Hey can somebody fix that window?” as the camera pans the walls of US Embassy which have no windows, only decorative grills.
What is missing from Garcetti’s 1st Year in India video is any mention of serious threats to India’s security, and how the US will work with India to contain regional conflict. A serious ambassador would never turn the US Chancery into a film set. Like all of Garcetti’s official posts, this is merely a promo for green energy plus fine desi dining—a topic Garcetti has already worn out, complete with a crying infant, the most used political token.
Garcetti is now drawing unflattering comparisons with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who was ridiculed globally for attending official functions in India dressed in ersatz Bollywood costumes. Videos on social media show Garcetti hosting a Diwali party at the US Embassy, in a kurta and sunglasses, performing an awkward rendition of Chaiya Chaiya, the A.R. Rahman/Dil Se superhit, with a group of amateur performers. Note to Garcetti’s team: leave Bollywood spectacles to the professionals, and please direct your energies into assisting India’s defence. We would prefer posts about US envoys of yore who stood with India, like John Kenneth Galbraith, a man of great wisdom and courage, who flew to Ladakh in the 1962 War, raised his fist above Indian territory and sent out a photo entitled “Instant Eisenhower.”
On 6 November 2023, days after $1.8 million legal settlement was awarded to a member of Los Angeles Mayor Garcetti’s protective detail who alleged sexual harassment by Garcetti’s chief aide, the Los Angeles Times wrote an admiring piece about Garcetti the Ambassador, with the standard negative framing of India: “The job in New Delhi, where a right-wing, nationalist government has challenged India’s secular and democratic identity, offered Garcetti a path to recovery, a chance to reset his narrative…he denied knowing about the aide’s alleged misdeeds…Garcetti would no doubt love to have a Bidenesque career trajectory.”
US corporate media spins hard for Garcetti and his fellow Democrats, but the catastrophic failures of their radical agenda are now too big to ignore. California, once the world’s 6th largest economy, is $150 billion in debt, as crime, inflation, overregulation, leftist capture of education have left its cities in ruins and is driving millions out of the Golden State. Many comments on X note the hypocrisy of Garcetti touting the failed California model, and that munching chhole and swinging a cricket bat isn’t fooling anybody. An Indian citizen posted: “Will you just keep the sanctimonious pontificating down to a minimum, and recognise that Bharat is the only major democracy in Asia willing to play ball with you?” “We see you patronize India, when California is collapsing.” “You would do well to, as we say in cricket, play with a straight bat, Eric.” Indian and US citizens want authentic leadership and policy objectives, which appear to be woefully absent from the present US Embassy in New Delhi.
Maura Moynihan is a New York-based journalist and author. Her website is: mauramoynihan.net.