The US Embassy in India on Thursday dismissed a report published by US-based POLITICO stating US Ambassador to India Eric Garcetti saying that relations between Washington and New Delhi can “get worse” in the wake of the diplomatic row between India and Canada over the killings of Khalistani activist Hardeep Singh Nijjar.
"The US Embassy dismisses these reports. Ambassador Garcetti is working hard every day to deepen the partnership between the people and governments of the United States and India,” said the US Embassy spokesperson on Thursday. “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,” the spokesperson said further.
Last month, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau had accused India of being involved in the killing of Nijjar on Canadian soil. The Khalistani leader was shot dead outside a gurdwara in Surrey, British Columbia, on June 18 this year.
In the follow-up to the development, an article published in POLITICO on October 3 stated, “Garcetti told his in-country team that, because of the diplomatic spat with Canada, relations between India and the U.S. could get worse for a time,” quoting a US State Department official as saying.
“Garcetti also has said the U.S. may need to reduce its contacts with Indian officials for an undefined period of time,” the Politico report stated further.
Further the report stated that when asked to comment on the matter, a US Department spokesperson echoed the words of the US Embassy spokesperson: “Ambassador Garcetti is a champion of our strong partnership with the Indian people and the Indian government. Our relationship with India is an important, strategic, and consequential partnership.”
Last month, the US raised concerns over Canada’s allegations and called for a full and fair investigation urging India to cooperate in the probe.
“We are obviously quite concerned about the situation in Canada and we have cooperated closely with our Canadian counterparts. We have urged India to cooperate in the investigation and we’ll continue to do so," said US Department of State Spokesperson Matthew Miller.
“India remains an important partner to the US and we work with them on a number of issues, but on this matter, we urge them to cooperate with the Canadian investigation,” he added.