NEW DELHI: US Ambassador to India, Eric Garcetti, has rubbished a news report which claimed that the ongoing diplomatic spat between India and Canada could make Washington’s ties with New Delhi “worse for a while”.
As the diplomatic tension between India and Canada continues, a report by Politico claimed that Garcetti has reportedly conveyed to his in-country team that the ongoing spat between the two nations may have repercussions on India-US relations. According to the report, which cited top US officials, Garcetti had also hinted at the possibility of reducing contact with Indian officials.
However, reacting to Politico’s report, a US Embassy spokesperson told The New Indian, “The US Embassy dismisses these reports. Ambassador Garcetti is working hard every day to deepen the partnership between the people and governments of the US and India. As his personal engagement and public schedule demonstrates, Ambassador Garcetti and the US Mission to India are working every day to advance the important, strategic, and consequential partnership we have with India.”
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Meanwhile, the US State Department, when questioned about Ambassador Garcetti’s comments, declined to provide an official statement, saying, “We don’t have anything for you on this.” A State Department spokesperson, on the other hand, emphasised the importance of the US-India partnership, describing it as “important, strategic, and consequential.”
The diplomatic rift between Canada and India traces back to June when a prominent Sikh activist, Hardeep Singh Nijjar, was killed in Canada. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s government initiated an investigation into “credible allegations” of a potential link between Nijjar’s assailants and the Indian government. However, India promptly refuted the allegations, describing them as “absurd” and “baseless” in a brief statement.
The White House has been cautious in its response to the ongoing India-Canada row, encouraging both countries to resolve the issue through bilateral discussions. While The New York Times reported that the US provided intelligence contributing to Trudeau’s accusations, the Biden administration has kept a relatively distant public stance. National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby emphasised, “Let these two countries speak to their bilateral relations,” during a briefing with reporters.
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In recent developments, India has twice requested Canada to scale down its diplomatic presence in the country, as relations between the two nations reached an unprecedented low following Ottawa’s allegations against New Delhi. During his recent visit to the United States, External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar reiterated India’s openness to reviewing any information that Canada might share on the matter. However, he also emphasised the unacceptability of the increasing climate of violence and intimidation against Indians in Canada.