There is no such thing as 'strategic autonomy' in times of conflict, says US envoy Eric Garcetti

United States Ambassador to India Eric Garcetti in Mumbai/ PTI

US envoy Eric Garcetti on Thursday said he respects that India likes its "strategic autonomy", but in times of conflict, there is no such thing as strategic autonomy, even as he pitched for forging a stronger partnership between New Delhi and Washington.

In his address at a defence news conclave here, he also said that in an interconnected world, "no war is distant anymore" and asserted 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 needs to know and that India needs to know together. His comments come in the backdrop of multiple ongoing conflicts in the world, including in Ukraine and Israel-Gaza. Garcetti's remarks follow the Biden administration on Tuesday saying that India will continue to be a strategic partner for the US despite concerns over its ties with Russia.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi was in Russia for two days for the 22nd India-Russia annual summit that has been watched closely by the West amidst the raging Ukraine conflict. The event was held at the United Services Institution (USI), Delhi, and attended by many defence experts.

"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... be acting together," Garcetti said.

The envoy in his address described India-US ties as deep, ancient and increasingly broad, but urged to not take this relationship for granted. Underling whole areas of cooperation, including in defence, the joint military exercises and India's naval prowess in the western Indian Ocean in combating piracy and other challenges, he envisioned the US and India together as an "unstoppable force for good in the world". He described the US-India defence partnership as one which stands "among the most consequential" in the world.

"We don't just see our future in India and India doesn't just see its future with the US, but the world can see great things in our relationship. In other words, there are countries on the sidelines hoping this relationship works. Because if it works, it doesn't just become a counterbalance, it becomes a place where we are developing our weapons together, integrating our training together," Garcetti said.

In times of emergencies, whether that be a natural disaster or god forbid, a human-caused war, "the US and India will be a powerful ballast against the waves that will sweep over Asia and other parts of the world", he asserted.

"And I think, 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.

"In the past three years, we have witnessed countries which have ignored sovereign borders. I dont' have to remind how important borders are, it's a central principle to peace in our world," he added. In his address, the US envoy also mentioned about "humanitarian emergencies" that have been seen along India's northern border, East China Sea, the Straits of Taiwan and the Middle East.

The American ambassador to India underlined that he had come to the event not to teach, preach or lecture, but always to listen in and learn and remind of their "commonly shared values". "That when we stand on those principles and stand together, even in difficult times, we are friends, that we can show that principles are the guiding light of peace in our world. And together the world's two largest democracies can enhance the security, the stability of our region," he said.

Underlining various areas of commonalty in India-US and its potential, the envoy said, "India sees its future with America, America sees its future with India." "Any objective observer will see that. We see it in our commerce, we see it in our people and certainly we see it in our security and future," he added.

"It is important for us as Americans and as Indians, the more we put into this relationship, the more we will get out (of it). The more we insist on kind of cynical calculations in the place of trusted relationships, the less we will get," the envoy said. He said the US-India relationship is "wide and it is deeper than it has ever been" but it is "not yet deep enough".

"Because if we only look inward, neither the US nor India in the Indo-Pacific will keep up with the pace of threats today," he said, adding, "be they, state actors on your border that we are also concerned about, in this region and other regions", be that climate change and the associated threats that US sees in this country.

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