New Delhi: Eric Garcetti, who will soon be taking over charge as the new US Ambassador to India, will have his hands full while carrying out President Joe Biden’s mandate in bolstering US-India ties at a time when the global geopolitical situation is at a vulnerable stage.
From balancing India’s ties with the US vis-à-vis Russia and establishing a long-term relationship with New Delhi to be able to effectively shape it as a counter to China, Garcetti’s work here will be difficult from the very beginning, top official sources told ABP Live.
Despite the delay in appointing an Ambassador to India, New Delhi and Washington had been effectively managing the ties by manoeuvring it through the difficult period when Russia launched a war against Ukraine in February 2021 and Chinese aggression against India.
According to the sources, this was the first time ever that the US took such a long time in sending an envoy here. The last US Ambassador to India Kenneth Juster left the post in January 2020 after completing his term. The geopolitical situation has undergone a paradigm shift within this period.
However, the sources said, this gap came as a “boon in disguise” for the Indian government which was able to establish “direct links” with the State Department, the Pentagon and the White House.
Garcetti, an educator and diplomat, was confirmed as the 26th US Ambassador to India in a senate vote on March 15.
Prior to this, he was elected as the 42nd Mayor of the City of Los Angeles in 2013 as the youngest mayor in Los Angeles history, and he was re-elected in 2017 with the widest margin ever recorded in his city. A former naval officer, Garcetti studied Hindi and Indian culture and history while at Columbia University where he earned the Master’s degree at the University’s School of International and Public Affairs.
Defence Partnership Between India, US Poised To Take ‘Quantum Leap’
Going forward, the strategic ties between the US and India will focus more deeply on high-technology initiatives and defence procurement even as the Biden administration moves forward with the Indo-Pacific policy framework that will see deeper collaboration between the two countries in the maritime domain.
The US and India recently launched an initiative on critical and emerging technology, including artificial intelligence and semiconductor technology that will be spearheaded by the National Security Advisors of the two countries.
Former US envoy Juster told ABP Live from Washington DC: “Under the Trump Administration, the United States granted India Strategic Trade Authorization Tier 1 (STA-1) status, which provided a license exception allowing U.S. companies to efficiently export a wider range of high technology products to Indian customers.”
He added: “The Biden Administration has continued to expand our high technology relationship with several significant policy measures. These include the initiative on Critical and Emerging Technology, which is being led by our two National Security Advisors, and the US-India Strategic Trade Dialogue involving exports of dual-use items and related controls, which is a revitalization of the High Technology Cooperation Group that the Foreign Secretary Kanwal Sibal and I co-founded in 2002. These will likely be areas of focus for Ambassador Garcetti. Given his strong relationships in Washington, D.C., he can help facilitate these initiatives and continue to advance the relationship.”
According to diplomatic sources, the defence partnership between India and the US is poised to take a quantum leap even as America has been consistently showcasing its airpower in the Indian skies by repeatedly sending their F-15 and F-35 fighter jets and B-1B Bombers.
India is also close to purchasing 30 MQ-9B Predator drones from US defence conglomerate General Atomics under a $3-billion deal for all three of its armed forces – Army, Air Force and Navy.
“The US-India relationship is in good shape. We now have in place a very capable U.S. Ambassador, who can take the relationship to the next level. He is smart, energetic, and well-connected in Washington, D.C,” said Juster.
He added: “There has been strong bipartisan support in the United States over the last 20-plus years for our strategic partnership with India. The Biden Administration has continued in this tradition, carrying forward policies to support a free and open Indo-Pacific and to elevate the Quad (Australia, India, Japan, and the United States) as a key grouping to promote a positive agenda in the region.”
Presence Of Garcetti Can Only Enhance India-US Dialogue: Ex-Envoy Juster
On the sharp differences between Washington and New Delhi over the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war, he said the US and India have had extensive discussions over the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war and have a “good understanding of each other’s position.”
“The presence of Ambassador Garcetti can only enhance the dialogue between the two countries. He can also provide U.S. support to India during its presidency of the G20,” Juster added.
The upcoming G-20 Summit, which will be taking place under India’s Presidency, is expected to be a stormy one with acrimony between the West and Russia widening after the Ukraine war.
While India has reiterated that dialogue and diplomacy is the only war forward to resolve the war, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has also been applauded for telling Russian President Vladimir Putin that this is “not an era of war” last year during a summit meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) in Uzbekistan.
India, US, Japan and Australia, which together form the Quad, will have its next summit in Australia later this year.
The US is also closely watching the developments that are taking place between New Delhi and Beijing ever since the military standoff began at the Line of Actual Control in eastern Ladakh in April-May 2020.
Last month, Kurt Campbell, US National Security Council Coordinator for the Indo-Pacific, said China’s attempt to create disturbance along the LAC with India is “deeply concerning” to Washington.
"India is a great power. India is not an ally for the United State and it never will be an ally for the United States. But it does not mean that we will not be close partners and share many things and that’s how we need to understand the role that India will play as a great nation on the global stage,” Campbell said at a seminar organised by the Center for a New American Security (CNAS), a Washington-based think tank.
Garcetti will soon be presenting his credentials to President Droupadi Murmu after which he will be officially designated as the US Ambassador to India.