Cataloguing the delights of Indian culture is not a substitute for leadership.
New York: When Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau preposterously declared that “agents of the Indian government” may have plotted the assassination of Khalistani separatist Hardeep Singh Nijjar in British Columbia, in June 2023, US Ambassador to India, Eric Garcetti was notably silent. Now Garcetti has entered the row, as the Canadian High Commission sheds staffers, with Washington’s Politico reporting that according to their sources, Garcetti “warned his staff that relations between New Delhi and Washington could worsen for some time” citing unnamed officials. Garcetti allegedly told his Embassy staff to “cut back” on contacting Indian officials, as members of US President Joe Biden’s administration stated US-Indian relations may hit a rough patch “in the near term.”
The US Embassy refuted the Politico story, and during a New Delhi function for Swavlamban 2.0 on 5 October 2023, Garcetti dodged the issue with platitudes such as “the great minds in India and the great minds in the United States can work to find more paths to peace.”
Garcetti previously made headlines when US Ambassador to Pakistan, Donald Blome made an unusual 6-day visit to Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir, which rightly alarmed the Indian government, as did Garcetti’s statement, “It’s not my place to react to US envoy in Pakistan but I know we have obviously had parts of our delegation in J&K during the G20 as well.”
For Garcetti to equate Ambassador Blome’s lengthy visit to the disputed and militarized POK region with a G20 Summit is ludicrous, and insulting. Arindam Bagchi, India’s first-rate MEA spokesman deftly noted: “We don’t think the two situations are equivalent. Our position on the entirety of J&K being an integral part of India is well known. We would like to urge the international community to respect our sovereignty and territorial integrity.”
In addition to playing coy on POK, Garcetti failed to defend India’s sovereignty when the Chinese Communist Party—CCP—unrolled a new map of Asia which displayed Arunachal Pradesh and Ladakh as possessions of the People’s Republic of China.
As India’s strategic partner the US envoy should have talked to the Chinese Ambassador to demand an explanation and a retreat. At a critical point in the 1962 China-India war, US Amb. John Kenneth Galbraith and his wife Kitty flew to Ladakh, where Galbraith raised his fist in India’s defense in a gesture dubbed “Instant Eisenhower.”
The crisis in Israel has inflamed global jihadists, and this will affect India. India and Israel have strong diplomatic ties, many nations will not issue visas for Israeli citizens, but Israelis have always been welcome in India. President Biden’s disastrous pullout from Kabul in 2021 made the Taliban the world’s 5th largest army, while the CCP is choking Pakistan with debt and BRI projects, all of which puts India’s security at risk. Has Amb. Garcetti sat down with the Indian press to discuss these urgent regional crises? Eminent US envoys of decades past, Bowles, Galbraith, Moynihan and Celeste, demonstrated support for their host nation by welcoming Indian diplomats and journalists to the residence on Shanti Path, and giving serious policy interviews to Indian media, often with Indian officials and colleagues.
Garcetti prefers social media, where he controls a banal narrative that reads like a hospitality promotion. The ambassador recently posted on X: “I witnessed the breathtaking sunrise at Kanyakumari…This place truly captures the incredible diversity and beauty of India! India’s beauty is a tapestry of landscapes, traditions, and flavors.”
Cataloguing the delights of Indian culture is not a substitute for leadership, at a time when the Middle East is on fire and the CCP appears hellbent on annexing Indian sovereign territory along the Tibet border. As mayor of Los Angeles Garcetti was accused of openly cultivating the CCP, on trips to China and hosting CCP delegations in the US. All this raised questions about why Biden pushed Garcetti’s nomination as ambassador to India through two years of tortuous hearings. Recent congressional investigations into the Biden family’s financial and political rewards from Chinese officials have exposed a possible degree of CCP infiltration into the current administration. The question being asked by Washington insiders is: Is Garcetti’s waffling on POK and his silence on the CCP’s cartographic aggression towards India mere miscalculation? Or is he doing his duty and ensuring that US-India relations remain strong at a time when the CCP is rampaging across the world?
Justin Trudeau is among those who have a long history of partnering with the CCP. Trudeau’s shocking assault on India, for decades a trusted partner of Canada, prompted many to question if Trudeau acted at the behest of the CCP. Who but CCP has a motive to damage Canada-India ties and smear India, so soon after India’s lauded G20 Summit, which was snubbed by CCP dictator Xi Jinping? Politico is well known for DC “insider scoops” and the official who spoke off the record alleged Garcetti told his Embassy staff to “cut back” on meeting with Indian officials, which if true could lead to speculation that this could indicate the US is backing Trudeau against his victim, India.
On 12 December 1974, Ambassador Daniel Patrick Moynihan gave a farewell press conference at the end of our time in New Delhi. He expressed his great admiration for India, his pride in brokering the rupee deal and creating the Indo-US Joint Commission on Economic, Scientific and Cultural Exchange. He was critical of the “tilt to China” in US policy, stating: “We have spent 25 years talking about democracies and the only places we seem to be interested in are dictatorships. In China, American visitors get friendly press and enthusiastic crowds at the airport, but India can’t assure such a welcome because her press and her people are free. India is the largest nation committed to a free democratic society and we should not forget that.”
Amb. Garcetti’s job is explaining US policy to India, and he should also explain, in unequivocal terms, his stance on POK, Trudeau’s allegations, and the CCP plan to annex Ladakh and Arunachal. The Indian press needs to monitor this, so US taxpayers can find out if the envoy’s move indicate that he favours a policy change towards India. The US public is entitled to answers to queries about whether Ambassador Garcetti is serious about deepening ties with India. President Biden hosted Prime Minister Modi at a State Dinner at the White House, and had praise for India at the G 20 Delhi Summit, where the US and Indian sides worked in sync. Ambassador Garcetti needs to demonstrate much better than he has thus far, that he is committed to the all-important issue of a strong and growing India-US relationship.
Maura Moynihan is a New York based journalist and author, specialising in the Chinese Communist occupation of Tibet. Her website is: mauramoynihan.net.