Washington: Observing that India is situated in a tough neighbourhood, US President Joe Biden’s nominee for next envoy to New Delhi on Tuesday told lawmakers that he will double-down on America’s efforts to strengthen India’s capacity to “secure its borders, defend its sovereignty and deter aggression”.
Eric Michael Garcetti, 50, is currently serving as the Mayor of Los Angeles and is a personal confidant of Biden.
During his confirmation hearing for US Ambassador to India, Garcetti said, “India is situated in a tough neighbourhood. If confirmed, I intend to double-down on our efforts to strengthen India’s capacity to secure its borders, defend its sovereignty and deter aggression.”
Garcetti said he will make the efforts “through information sharing, counterterrorism coordination, joint freedom of navigation patrols and military exercises (which I have participated in as a naval officer alongside my Indian counterparts), and sales of our best defence technologies in order to realise the full potential of our major defence partnership .
He said if confirmed, he will work closely with India to support a similarly bold approach to promoting green energy through the International Solar Alliance (ISA) and through the Agenda 2030 Climate and Clean Energy Partnership.
The bedrock of our partnership are the human ties that connect our nations, embodied by the four million strong Indian-American diaspora that strengthens our nation and the nearly two hundred thousand Indian students and tens of thousands of Indian professionals who contribute to our economy, Garcetti said.
In addition, respect for human rights and strong democratic institutions are key elements of our strategic partnership and values enshrined in our constitutions, and if confirmed, I will engage closely and regularly with the Indian government on these issues, he said.
The Los Angeles Mayor said in 1992, the year he graduated from college after studying Hindi and Indian cultural and religious history, US-India ties languished in the shadow of Cold War era mistrust. Annual trade stood at a paltry USD 2 billion, defence trade was zero and military interoperability was non-existent. The very idea of a US-India strategic partnership would have been deemed laughable.
Today, the fundamental nature of that strategic partnership is firmly ingrained in both Washington and New Delhi. Twenty years ago President Biden then Chairman of this esteemed committee called for a new and ambitious vision of US-India ties. Thanks to successive administrations — Democratic and Republican — and the bipartisan work of this Congress, that strong new chapter is upon us, he said.
Despite the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic, bilateral trade is expected to reach new heights and if confirmed, I intend to champion an ambitious economic partnership with India that reduces market access barriers and bolsters fair trade and creates good jobs for the American middle class, Garcetti said.
Garcetti also said that he fully supports the law of the land, the implementation of CAATSA and part of that is the waiver provision.
Responding to a question on enforcement of CAATSA sanctions on India now that New Delhi has started receiving delivery of the S-400 missile system from Russia.
“I don’t want to prejudge the Secretary’s decision about sanctions or a waiver. And I do want to tell the Chairman, Ranking Member (and) all the members (of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee). I do fully support the law of the land, the implementation of CAATSA as law here and part of that is the waiver provision,” Garcetti said.
The Los Angeles Mayor said, if confirmed, he would advocate the continued diversification of India’s weapons system, the threats to US own weapons systems.
If that diversification doesn’t occur because we have to protect our data and our systems, he said, adding that he would work towards growing India US Major Defence Partnership. I think it is one of the great success stories of the last few decades from zero to USD 20 billion in procurement, the intelligence sharing that we have, the interoperability, the exercises, the maritime work that we’re doing, he said.
India is the only designated Major Defence Partner of the United States.
Having concluded four major defence enabling agreements since 2016, the United States and India have made significant progress as Major Defence Partners and America looks forward to further increasing information sharing, bilateral and multilateral exercises, maritime security cooperation, liaison officer exchanges, and logistical cooperation.
Responding to questions related to human rights in India, Garcetti assured the lawmakers that he would personally be talking to various stakeholders in India on this issue.
“I would not only just bring it up, but it would not be something at the end as an obligation. It will be a core piece of what I’ll be engaging my Indian counterparts have confirmed with,” he said.
“There’s no question that the US India relationship should be underpinned by our common commitment to democracy, human rights and to civil society…If confirmed, I will actively raise these issues. I’ll raise them with humility. It’s a two-way street on these, but I intend to engage directly with civil society,” he said.
“There are groups that are actively fighting for the human rights of people on the ground in India that will get direct engagement from me. We know that democracies are complicated and we can look at our own and at India’s, but it’s a cornerstone of our shared values,” Garcetti said.
Also read: Modi-Biden bilateral meet will strengthen India-US ties, add momentum to Quad: White House