The United States has rejected the American media report wherein it was claimed that US Ambassador to India Eric Garcetti informed his in-country team that relations between New Delhi and Ottawa could get worse for a time and the US may need to reduce its contacts with Indian officials for an undefined period of time.
However, a State Department spokesperson, made it clear that the USA’s relationship with India is an important, strategic, and consequential partnership. “Ambassador Garcetti is working hard every day to deepen the partnership between the people and governments of the United States and India. As his personal engagement and public schedule demonstrate, Ambassador Garcetti and the US Mission to India are working every day to advance the important, strategic, and consequential partnership we have with India,” stressed the spokesperson.
The statement from the US Embassy came nearly two days after a report by US media outlet, Politico, claimed that the “Biden administration has been notably quiet as tensions escalate between India and Canada following the murder of a Khalistani terrorist in British Columbia. Don’t expect more noise from the White House anytime soon.” The report also claimed that the US Ambassador to India asked his team members to refrain from contacting Indian officials as a measure to balance diplomatic relations with both New Delhi and Ottawa.
Notably, the tension between the two nations soared tremendously following PM Trudeau’s allegations against New Delhi where in he claimed Ottawa has “credible information” that Indian agents were involved in the killing of Khalistani terrorist, Hardeep Singh Nijjar, on July 19. However, the claims were outrightly rejected by the Ministry of External Affairs, where spokesperson Arindam Bagchi, dubbed the allegations “baseless” and “politically motivated”.
It is worth mentioning for the US, both India and Canada are close allies and it is obvious that the Pentagon would not take the risk of irking either of its allies. Recently, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, who had a week-long trip to the US, met with his American counterpart Antony Blinken and National Security Advisor, Jake Sullivan in New York, where the top diplomats discussed the issue of Canada.
Although the Biden administration did not condemn Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s allegations nor did it subscribe to his personal attack on New Delhi, the top US officials termed the allegations “serious” and asked India to cooperate in the investigations.
Recently, in a press conference, John Kirby, Coordinator for Strategic Communications at the National Security Council in the White House, commented positively in favour of India and underscored that it would certainly leave it to both countries to talk about their bilateral relationship. “We’ve been clear, these allegations are serious, they need to be fully investigated and of course, as we’ve said before, we urge India to participate actively in that investigation,” Kirby said.
This is a breaking story. More details will be added.