NEW YORK: Many diplomats, security analysts and journalists have investigated Donald Lu’s role in fomenting chaos in South Asia.
US Ambassador to India, Eric Garcetti’s sordid history of covering up a sexual assault scandal while he served as Mayor of Los Angeles exploded anew last week, when National Public Radio (NPR) on 3 September, alleged that Garcetti lied under oath, as reported in The Sunday Guardian by Abhinandan Mishra (Pressure mounts in U.S. for recall of envoy Eric Garcetti, 8 September). NPR obtained the video of Garcetti’s deposition, “showing his body language, facial expressions and demeanor as he responds to tough questions…the records raise concern about Garcetti’s truthfulness, as well as the Biden-Harris administration’s decision to fully support Garcetti’s nomination as ambassador to India.”
The NPR scoop rekindled multiple stories about Garcetti’s disastrous tenure as LA Mayor; slashing the police budget by $150 million to fund “youth jobs and health initiatives”, a failed “green energy” mission, described by the Wall Street Journal thusly: “Blackouts hit Los Angeles as climate policies wilt in the heat.” Garcetti was widely criticized for this excruciatingly tone-deaf post on the 23rd anniversary of 9/11 terror attacks, which read, “India’s challenges are for Indians to solve. We’re here to listen, learn, and strengthen our friendship. Whether it’s on the border with China or co-developing tech like Predator drones, we stand stronger together!”
If Garcetti is sincere about bolstering the India-US alliance, why has he posted nothing about the crisis in Bangladesh? Why won’t he acknowledge that India and the US have both been targets of terrorists? What prompted Garcetti to scold Prime Minister Narendra Modi over a state visit to Moscow in July 2024, stating, “I respect that India likes its strategic autonomy. But in times of conflict, there is no such thing as strategic autonomy” and that the Indo-US ties were not deep enough to be taken “for granted”?
Details of Garcetti’s relations with Communist China have again resurfaced; on 7 September 2024, Thomas Buckley, senior fellow at the California Policy Center wrote in the California Globe that Garcetti “has taken vast sums of money from groups with ties to Chinese intelligence services, a particular potential disqualifier from being ambassador to India.”
Interviews with Ina Mitchell, co-author of “The Mosaic Effect: How the Chinese Communist Party Started a Hybrid War in America’s Backyard” are circulating online. Mitchell says, “How compromised is Eric Garcetti? He checks all the boxes in triplicate. He is most certainly compromised and will be leveraged sometime in the future—no question about it. Whenever a politician takes money from a well-established United Front organization, especially large amounts, it’s akin to signing a contract with the CCP.” Mitchell warned Garcetti “could be a crucial ‘strategic placement’” to China’s benefit as US Ambassador to India.
Garcetti was not the only US diplomat to lambast Modi for conducting foreign policy as he sees fit; In July 2024, Donald Lu, US Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs, expressed “disappointment” over Modi’s state visit to Russia. So many are wondering, what is the purpose of Lu’s trip to India and Bangladesh, which began on 10 September, when Lu arrived in New Delhi as co-chair of the 8th US-India 2+2 Intersessional Dialogue, and to attend the India Ideas Summit, hosted by the U.S.-India Business Council?
From 1996-97 Lu was “special assistant” to Ambassador to India, Frank Wisner, who shut down many successful Indo-US exchange programs. Lu continued as Political Officer in New Delhi from 1997 to 2000 and was Deputy Chief of Mission (DCM) in India from 2010 to 2013.
Many diplomats, security analysts and journalists have investigated Donald Lu’s role in fomenting chaos in South Asia. Lu has been called a “regime change expert”—on 3 April 2022, Pakistan PM Imran Khan gave a speech, which can be seen on social media, where he named Donald Lu as the individual who had a covert meeting with Pakistan diplomats to convey the Biden administration’s demand for regime change in Pakistan. In a leaked Pakistani diplomatic cable obtained by The Intercept on 7 March 2022, Lu met with Pakistan Ambassador to the US, Asad Majeed and stated that relations between the US and Pakistan were at risk due to Imran Khan’s “aggressively neutral” stance on the Russia-Ukraine war and Khan’s visit to Moscow, and that Pakistan would be “isolated” from the US. Soon thereafter Imran Khan was ousted from power and is now locked in a jail cell on bogus charges, as citizens of Pakistan are ravaged by shortages, inflation and daily terror strikes. Sri Lanka also abstained from voting on the Russia-Ukraine war; the Sri Lankan economy crashed, chaos ensued, and Lu praised the “new” Sri Lanka after protesters toppled President Rajapaksa.
In a video from a US Congressional hearing on 20 March 2024, Lu says of Pakistan, “We have warned them of our red lines…if they get into bed with Iran, it will be very serious for our relationship.” Lu then claims the leaked cable was not “accurate” as shouts of “liar, liar” echo through the hearing room.
On 10 September, the Dhaka Tribune reported, “This visit will be Lu’s first visit to Bangladesh following the formation of the interim government after Sheikh Hasina’s resignation as Prime Minister on August 5.” The US Department of State website posted this press release; “In Dhaka, Bangladesh, Assistant Secretary Lu will join an interagency delegation for meetings with the Bangladeshi interim government (and) will discuss how the United States can support Bangladesh’s economic growth, financial stability and development needs.” There is no mention of the rape and murder of Bangladeshi Hindus, and the chaos spreading into West Bengal.
Americans would like to know if Lu spoke to Indian media to explain the purpose of meetings with the newly installed government in Bangladesh, and why he has not addressed the violence engulfing India’s neighbour. We would also like to know why Garcetti was deemed fit to serve as US envoy to India, as his tawdry track record is once again in headlines worldwide.
Maura Moynihan is a New York-based journalist and author. Her website is: mauramoynihan.net.