US ambassador to India Eric Garcetti on Tuesday said the US takes threats against Indian diplomats seriously while speaking to CNN-News18.
“The seriousness with which we take any threats against Indian diplomats (and) the work that we’re doing… makes sure that people are held accountable for any criminal acts that happened in the United States,” Garcetti said.
Khalistani separatists attacked the Indian consulate in San Francisco last year and on several occasions targeted members of the Indian diplomatic community and members of the Indian diaspora.
“Our law enforcement has never worked more closely together. We take very seriously any threats or acts that are criminal against either Indian diplomats or Indian diplomatic facilities. And I can assure you that we have gone very deep in coordinating that investigation and holding people accountable,” Garcetti further added.
Speaking of coordination between agencies of both nations, Garcetti also said that India and the US are managing differences that have come up while probing the alleged plot to murder Khalistani separatist leader Gurpatwant Singh Pannun where US officials have claimed that Indian officials were responsible for hatching the plot.
US officials alleged that Indian officials planned to murder Pannun, who is a US citizen on US soil.
An Indian national, Nikhil Gupta, has been arrested by authorities in Czechia in relation to the case and the US has asked Czechia to extradite him but the European nation’s apex court will have the final word. Gupta has been indicted in the case by the US Justice Department.
India has rejected the claims made by US media that Indian officials were involved and set up a high-level committee to investigate the claims made by the US officials.
“We are managing something, that for us, was an important line that cannot be crossed. I think both the United States and India are managing differences by doing that in a very mature, very thorough way that also adheres to our principles and our values,” Garcetti said.
Garcetti also spoke on the differences that arose between the West and India when India decided to purchase Russian oil while the West and the US was trying to push the world away from Russian energy resources during the initial phases of the Ukraine war.
“I’ve heard commentators say that this has been the consistent policy of the US government with India and all nations that this oil can be purchased so that we can keep the price of oil affordable for all of our economies,” Garcetti said. “It should be able to reduce the profits for Russia which we have successfully been able to do and thanks to India and other nations for that,” he further added.
Garcetti also spoke about the protests related to the Gaza War in US campuses. “Democracies are never easy, especially when we disagree with each other. We have strong opinions, but we believe very strongly in the right of everybody to disagree with one another and to do that peacefully,” he said.
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