Eric Garcetti, US Ambassador to India, said that the question is can the two countries (US an India) “move the feet together” and build that continued deep trust and have outcomes that meet security threats of this moment.
His remarks came in the background of India-Russia Summit and the bonhomie between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Russian President Vladimir Putin, which sparked criticism from Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
Without naming PM Modi or the summit, Garcetti added that India likes its strategic autonomy, but there is no such thing as “strategic autonomy” during a conflict while addressing a defence conclave in Delhi.
Talking about the relationship between the US and India, the envoy said, “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.”
The remarks are being interpreted as a message to India following PM Narendra Modi’s visit to Russia, which is facing several sanctions from the West over its war in Ukraine. Notably, PM Modi’s visit also coincided with a crucial meet of NATO that was addressed by US President Joe Biden.
Garcetti also sought to compare Russia’s violation of Ukraine’s borders with the military standoff between India and China on the Line of Actual Control (LAC).
“... we all know that we are interconnected in the world, no war is distant any more. 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 that is something the US needs to know and that India needs to know together,” the envoy said.
Garcetti also hailed the work being done by India and the US to jointly develop weapons, conduct joint military exercises between their military leadership, which will allow them to be “a powerful ballast against the waves that will sweep over Asia and other parts of the world.”
Earlier, a Bloomberg report stated that US officials were frustrated with the timing of PM Modi's Russia visit and the hug shared by Putin in the middle of the NATO Summit, which began on July 9 and concluded on July 11.
The report also stated that US Deputy Secretary of State Kurt Campbell spoke with Foreign Secretary Vinay Kwatra in early July hoping to reschedule PM Modi's visit to Russia as it was coinciding with the NATO Summit.