The United States’ double standards on democracy and national security are being exposed like never before. After the US state department expressed misplaced “concern” over the Enforcement Directorate case against Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, the US Ambassador to India Eric Garcetti has waded into another controversy.
“Any country, having an active member of their government involved in a second country trying to assassinate one of their citizens, that’s, I think, usually is a red line for any country. That’s a basic issue of sovereignty. That’s a basic issue of rights,” Garcetti said, alluding to the alleged assassination attempt at Sikh separatist Gurpatwant Singh Pannun last year. There is a serious problem if the US thinks its sovereignty is more sacrosanct than that of India or any other country.
US being unreasonable
No country can allow a terrorist to operate freely on foreign soil as it imperils national and international security. The American definition of ‘red lines’ is unreasonable. And it’s absurd that it is choosing to substantiate this irrationality by saying: “We are helping our Indian counterparts understand that people can express opinions like, ‘I think this is going to happen to American citizens by the way’,” and that “Under our law for an American citizen to be convicted in an American court or to be deported to have a criminal case in another country, it has to meet our law.”
What catastrophe befalls the American people is none of India’s business, but anything that poses a security threat to Indians is very much India’s concern. If an American citizen threatens Indians, funds and organises anti-India activities in the US, or warns people in India not to travel by an Air India flight because it could be blown up like Air India Flight 182 was in 1985, New Delhi has every reason to be concerned and take remedial action. The White House did not care for Pakistan’s laws when it eliminated a terrorist on Pakistani soil.
The US never said then that the allegations against Osama Bin Laden must meet laws set by Pakistan. When it comes to Pannun, a dual citizen of the US and Canada, Garcetti waxes eloquently that “the allegations against him (Pannun) by India must meet laws set in his country.” And all this pontification even as the Indian government took the matter seriously and instituted a high-level inquiry committee in November 2023 when the allegations of a plot to kill Pannun were made.
India has paid a heavy price for not nipping the Khalistan issue in the bud. Army action against self-styled Khalistan leader Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale inside the Golden Temple resulted in the assassination of then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi in 1984. The separatist movement was put down subsequently but Islamabad soon sought to stir trouble by reviving the anti-India movement.
Pakistan Army and more importantly the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) reportedly funded and supported the Khalistan movement in India and abroad. The ISI created several “assets” that would in turn run sleeper cells and act as covert and overt agents perpetuating terrorism against India. The terrorist protected by the US is one of them.
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Stop marking red lines & cooperate
Like radical Islamic terrorist outfits, pro-Khalistan elements have also established sham front organisations which claim to be supporting the United Nations in feeding the needy in Africa and elsewhere. The US government should know that any form of assistance to terror funding is not only against humanity but a punishable crime inviting sanctions. New Delhi would not like to read the riot act to the US ambassador but it cannot prevent social media from disseminating the ‘kill list’ of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), or a report of the US senate detailing the targeted killings carried out by the non-military establishments and agencies of the deep state in the US.
India and the US have been partners in the fight against terrorism and both democracies uphold the rule of law while respecting strategic autonomy and the cardinal principles of sovereignty. The emerging geopolitical dynamics call for a more robust and active cooperation for global peace and prosperity. The US should stop marking red lines and draw a longer line of cooperative framework.
The US woke up to the reality of terror attacks on India only after the November 2008 Mumbai attacks where Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) terrorists shot dead more than 150 civilians including several Americans. No one would wish such a brutal shooting of innocent Americans by pro-Khalistan elements in the US or elsewhere in the world. It does not cost anything to be cautious and to avoid such eventualities. The US has played with fire and paid a heavy price by patronising venomous snakes. Once bitten twice shy.
Seshadri Chari is the former editor of ‘Organiser’. He tweets @seshadrichari. Views are personal.
(Edited by Zoya Bhatti)