After the recent tensions over the Khalistan separatist Gurpatwant Singh Pannun murder plot, the Biden administration looked to sign off on a positive note with India as outgoing ambassador Eric Garcetti Thursday welcomed the conclusion of the Indian probe into the murder-for-hire case, saying the investigation delivered 2 of the things that the US sought – accountability and systemic reforms.
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Garcetti told TOI in an interview that while the probe was not an end in itself, and the US would look forward to more steps, the outcome helped prove wrong the sceptics who believed there’s no way India and the United States would be able to navigate this issue and that what India was doing was mere “window dressing”.
The ambassador admitted that Trump’s tariff threat could undermine the positive agenda of the relationship, but expressed confidence the relationship would continue to grow, saying he saw Trump’s tariff focus as an invitation for dialogue on the issue, and not as a threat to start a trade war.
“My assessment is it’s (Pannun probe) a really positive first step. We welcome it. It delivered what the private interactions I had with Indian officials promised. We said changes should be made to ensure this doesn’t happen again and people should be held accountable. It’s not the destination though. The report would be first to say that. It says it’s recommending a process for prosecution. And just like in our system, facts come out and things happen. But this is substantive. It moves the ball forward and we look forward to steps in the future,” said Garcetti, when asked about the outcome of the probe which suggested the plot might have been a ‘lone wolf’ operation.
On Canada’s ongoing probe into similar cases and alleged Indian involvement, which it has linked to higher-ups including the Indian home minister, Garcetti said he didn’t have any knowledge about it at all. “I believe both of our countries have independent criminal justice systems, which are outside our intelligence systems and have to pursue facts that can hold up in a court of law. I don’t want to speak for Canada. I know it to be the case in America. My friends in Canada would say they have a similar system. I think often we see connections that don’t exist,’’ said the ambassador.
Garcetti said the fact that Trump has close ties with PM Narendra Modi and the fact that he has appointed people considered pro-India as NSA and secretary of state augurs well for ties. He described Biden as the most pro-India president in US history and Modi as the most pro-US PM. “And when President Biden said this is the most important country to me when he asked me to take this position…I think he proved it. Things like ICET, envisioning IMEEC…or the work we are doing in Fiji, or southeast Asia or Africa is not just additive but also multiplicative. That legacy will be an amazing foundation for the Trump administration to further build on but will also stand on it as the brightest chapter,’’ he said.
Trade war doesn’t help anybody, said Garcetti when asked about Trump’s threat to impose higher tariffs on India and others. “If we want to outcompete our main competitors…want to have a China plus one strategy, It’s not enough to have good intentions. We have to reduce tariffs further. We have to create a corridor that is trusted between our technologies. The way I hear it from the president-elect, it’s an invitation to sit down at the table, not a threat to start a trade war,’’ he said.
On the US focus on human rights, minorities and freedom of speech, Garcetti said both India and the US needed to guard against misinformation and to ensure a sense of belonging for all, but added US wasn’t looking to teach or preach. “That’s for the Indians to determine. India says we will not comment on you and please don’t comment on us. America says we are going to comment on you, please do comment on us. We have a slight difference there. There have been moments when I have been blown away by the vibrancy of the Indian democracy. There are fair, free elections that are an example for others,’’ he said.
Asked about some of the most challenging issues he faced during his tenure, including India’s ties with Russia and the murder-for-hire case, Garcetti said there was nothing the 2 sides could not overcome even though there were conversations that weren’t easy. “Sometimes we have to disagree on things. But we resolved our trade disputes. We are navigating through criminal cases – both what happened to Indian diplomats in San Francisco and in terms of what happened to American citizens like in the Pannun case. Democracies are complex, diverse populations are difficult to manage but it reminds me of America a few decades ago. If we put our minds together, there’s nothing we can’t do,’’ he said.