Can’t take us for granted: US envoy’s caution after PM Modi-Putin bonhomie

US Ambassador to India Eric Garcetti on Thursday said that the India-US relationship is wider and deeper than it’s ever been, but is not deep enough to be taken “for granted”.

Addressing a defence news conclave in the national capital, the US envoy added that India likes its strategic autonomy, but there is no such thing as “strategic autonomy” during a conflict.

The sharp words of the American diplomat came just hours after PM Modi landed in Delhi after concluding his two-nation visit to Russia and Austria.

The US envoy further added that in an interconnected world, “no war is distant any more” and that one must not just stand for peace, but also take concrete actions to make sure those who don’t play by peaceful rules, their war machines “cannot continue unabated”.

The US envoy said that is something the US and India need to know together.

“…It’s important for us as Americans and as Indians to remember the more we put into this relationship, the more we will get out. The more we insist on a kind of cynical calculation in the place of a trusted relationship, the less we will get… As I also remind my Indian friends, while it is wider and it is deeper than it’s ever been, it is not yet deep enough that if we take it for granted from the Indian side towards America, I’ll fight a lot of defence battles trying to help this relationship ahead…,” he said.

“I know that India … and 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 that in times of need, in the next day, be acting together,” Garcetti said.

“… we all know that we are interconnected in the world, no war is distant anymore. And 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. And that is something the US needs to know and that India needs to know together,” the envoy said.

The critical comments of the US Ambassador came against the backdrop of multiple ongoing conflicts in the world, including in Ukraine and Israel-Gaza.

Earlier, a Bloomberg report stated that US officials were frustrated with the timing of PM Modi’s Russia visit and the hug shared by Putin in the middle of the Nato Summit — which began on July 9 and concluded on July 11.

The report also stated that US Deputy Secretary of State Kurt Campbell spoke with Foreign Secretary Vinay Kwatra in early July hoping to reschedule PM Modi’s visit to Russia as it was coinciding with the Nato Summit.