New Delhi: Just two days after Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited Russia and hugged President Vladimir Putin, the United States on Thursday warned that relations were still “not yet deep enough” to be taken for granted and emphasised that “there is no such thing as strategic autonomy” during a conflict.
Modi’s visit to Russia—his first bilateral foreign trip in his third term—had already caused concern in Western capitals, with the harshest criticism coming from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
A day earlier on Wednesday, a US State Department spokesperson stated that Washington had communicated with Indian officials following Modi’s arrival in Moscow.
Speaking at a conclave on India-US defence relations on Thursday, US Ambassador to India Eric Garcetti made remarks that implicitly referenced the recent trip to Moscow, though he did not mention Russia by name. The only direct reference came when he noted that the takeaways from the visit to Russia were not substantive.
“We can read… as we might have done this week, leaders’ agreements all the time. Look through the ones that are kind of dressed up versus the ones that have to be edited down,” he said.
Garcetti, a former Los Angeles Mayor, claimed that he was “told when we had the prime minister’s visit that a state visit that has five to ten deliverables is a very strong visit”. “At our peak, we had 173 separate deliverables that the United States and India were working on together,” he added.
While mentioning his discussions on the state of the bilateral relationship during his break in the US, Garcetti reiterated several times that the relationship has a strong foundation but should not be taken for granted.
“In Washington today, where very few things unite American political leaders, it is bipartisan, it is bicameral, and it is bi-branch. But as I also remind my Indian friends, while it is wide and it is deeper than it’s ever been, it is not yet deep enough.”
He cautioned, “That if we take it for granted from the Indian side towards America, I’ll fight a lot of defensive battles trying to help this relationship ahead”.
‘Doubts in Washington regarding civil rights issues in India’
Garcetti acknowledged doubts in Washington regarding civil rights issues in India, which he had to address, alongside explaining Indian sensitivity to criticism. “….But this senator or this member of Congress concerned about an NGO, concerned about a religious group, concerned about a human rights issue, concerned about the things that sometimes, we pretend don’t exist but we must actually confront and find a good language to talk about”.
Calling for enhanced cooperation between the Indian and US militaries and defense ecosystems, the US ambassador underlined, “…I respect that India, likes its strategic autonomy. But in times of conflict, there is no such thing as strategic autonomy. We will, in crisis moments, need to know each other. I don’t care what title we put to it, but we will need to know that we are trusted friends, brothers and sisters, colleagues in times of need, and the next day be acting together”.
He also emphasised that in today’s interconnected world, “no war remains distant anymore”.
India’s decision not to directly criticise Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has led to accusations that New Delhi is avoiding taking a stance on violations of international law. India has argued that conflicts in Europe should not automatically be treated as global issues, countering the Western assertion that the Ukraine conflict requires a common response against Russia.
Following his discussions with Putin on Tuesday, Modi’s public remarks did not explicitly mention the missile attack on a children’s hospital in Kyiv, but he did express loss of children’s lives in conflict situations was especially painful.
‘Words have to be met with deeds’
The US ambassador said on Thursday that words had to be met with deeds.
“…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”.
Encouraging an increase in the procurement of US weapons, he highlighted the growth from negligible purchases in 2008 to approximately $25 billion by India.
Acknowledging India’s historical reliance on Russian military equipment, Garcetti noted, “We understand there’s legacy equipment. You’ve got to be battle-ready. You need spare parts for that”.
Looking forward, he urged India to “know where the best systems, the best weapons are coming from”.
Incidentally, the India-Russia joint statement released after Modi’s visit stated that the two sides had agreed to “encourage joint manufacturing in India of spare parts, components, aggregates and other products for maintenance of Russian origin arms and defence equipment”.
