The Indian Panorama

Tag: Eric Garcetti

  • US envoy to India Eric Garcetti says India must not take ties for granted

    US envoy to India Eric Garcetti says India must not take ties for granted

    NEW DELHI (TIP): Two days after Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Russia, US Ambassador Eric Garcetti described the US-India defense partnership as the most consequential, but went on suggest that the relationship couldn’t be taken for granted and efforts were needed to maintain it, as was the case in a marriage.

    I know India likes its strategic autonomy and I respect that. But in times of conflict, there is no such thing as strategic autonomy. “Don’t take the relationship for granted, but enjoy it every day. Pay something into it. It’s like a marriage. Let’s listen to each other in this relationship,” the Ambassador said at a dialogue on “Deliverables to deliveries”, supported by the US State Department and the United Services Institution, a think-tank. The two-day event is titled “Stories of US-India Defense and Security Partnership”.

    Garcetti also spoke on India’s strategic autonomy, saying, “I know India likes its strategic autonomy and I respect that. But in times of conflict, there is no such thing as strategic autonomy.” Though he did not elaborate, the hint was clear the US no longer wanted India to maintain a neutral approach on international matters, including the Russia-Ukraine and the West Asia conflicts.

    In an obvious reference to Russia’s attack on Ukraine, the US Ambassador said, “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 ensure that war machines of those not abiding by peace rules cannot continue unabated.”

    “In times of crisis, we will need to trust each other and act together… we need to be known to each other’s systems and also know each other as humans. The US and India have to act together… take stand in principle against war,” he said. “Increasingly, we are not like two countries with two different cultures. We are two countries with one heart. The US and India together are an unstoppable force… India is now the number one US partner for doing military exercises.”

    Garcetti mentioned how the Malabar exercise off the Australian coast was like the Quad coming together in a strategic partnership to uphold a “rules-based order”. The Quad comprises India, US, Japan and Australia and the phrase “rules based order” is used in diplomatic terms to question China’s claims over the South China Sea and the East China Sea.

    “The US-India defense partnership stands among the most consequential in the world. My Commander-in-Chief and President Joe Biden asked me to take this position (in India). This is the most important country in the world,” he said.

    Over the past three years, he said, countries had been witnessed ignoring sovereign borders. “I don’t have to remind India how important borders are,” he said, in an obvious reference to the ongoing military standoff with China along the Line of Actual Control. “The central principle is for peace in our world. I come here not to teach and preach or to lecture… always to listen and learn… also to remind us of those commonly shared values,” the Ambassador added.

  • US Ambassador Garcetti dismisses concerns about democracy in India

    US Ambassador Garcetti dismisses concerns about democracy in India

    WASHINGTON, D.C. (TIP): The Biden administration’s top diplomat in New Delhi on Thursday, May 9, dismissed concerns being raised in certain quarters about democracy in India and observed that in many ways Indians are better that the Americans.

    At an event organized here by the Council on Foreign Relations, a top American think-tank, US Ambassador to India Eric Garcetti told the audience he was confident that “10 years from now India is going to be a vibrant democracy as it is today in terms of free and fair elections”.

    “Again, there’s things that probably are worse and there’s things that are better. They have a law, you can’t go more than two kilometers to vote. So, there’ll be one guy who lives in the mountains as a monk (at) someplace. They will walk for two days to bring the voting machine, execute the vote,” he said, responding to a question expressing concerns over the status of democracy in India. He said that during elections times in India, there are people who check trucks to make sure that nobody has cash going around.

    “There’s probably walk-in money, as they call it in some cities here in the United States, Philadelphia, that’s like a tradition where cash kind of gets you votes and things like that.

    So, I’ve been impressed with certain things they do that are better than us.” He, however, added there are things that “we keep our eyes on. And I just disagree that we don’t speak out about them”, “We put them out.

    It’s not the only thing. I mean, some people want us to only say that. But this is too important a relationship to spend all day long only saying that over and over.

    You’re not going to get anything else done. It’ll become a self-fulfilling prophecy that they will not be close to us. Whereas where we find the common ground, which I think is really human to human, very deep,” he said.

    “You have a lot of leaders there who have come worked, been educated here, have an affinity. There’s a huge positive polling of Americans. I told the president before the state visit that Americans poll better in India than Americans do in America. They like us more than we like ourselves. That’s rare in the world today,” Garcetti said, adding that Poland is the only other country that comes close.

    This is a huge advantage for the US, he said.

    “… If you don’t know state governments in India, which are as powerful as the center and are run by opposition parties, and there’s plenty of criticisms you can make, too, about other parties that have been in power. If you look at history in India, there’s not been some golden era where everybody’s rights have been respected,” Garcetti said.

    “America’s role is to stand up for the principles and the values that we have, to never retreat from those and talk about them. But is the relationship only that and those points of conflict? Absolutely not. It would be bad diplomacy; it would be bad policy. But in my heart, 100 percent, I believe, not only will this still continue to be one of the world’s most vibrant democracies,” Garcetti said.

    “I 100 percent believe we can trust this relationship. It’s going to be one of the defining relationships of the 21st century, the US and India together,” he said.
    (Source: PTI )

  • Eric Garcetti sworn in as US envoy to India

    Eric Garcetti sworn in as US envoy to India

    WASHINGTON, D.C. (TIP): US Vice-President Kamala Harris on Friday, March 24, swore in her fellow Californian, Eric Garcetti, as the next US Ambassador to India. “Ambassador Garcetti is a committed public servant and will play a critical role in strengthening our partnership with the people of India,” said Harris in a Twitter post shortly after the swearing-in ceremony. External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said at a media briefing, “We welcome the confirmation of Eric Garcetti as the US Ambassador to India. We look forward to working with him to take forward the multifaceted bilateral relations.” India’s envoy to the US Taranjit Singh Sandhu met Garcetti and discussed the immediate priorities in deepening the bilateral strategic partnership. “As he prepares to depart for India, we discussed some immediate priorities in deepening the bilateral partnership in line with our leaders’ vision,” tweeted Sandhu.
    Garcetti was not confirmed for two years due to concerns by some lawmakers that he had not adequately handled allegations of sexual assault and harassment against a former senior adviser.
    Garcetti’s nomination was also welcomed by a large number of politicians, entrepreneurs as well as India-American businessmen working on the Indo-US trade circuit.
    Mayor of Los Angeles since 2013, Garcetti served for 12 years as an Intelligence Officer in the US Navy Reserve Component, including a stint with the Pacific Fleet and the Defense Intelligence Agency.
    He was also a City Council member for 12 years and oversaw the busiest container port in the Western Hemisphere, the largest municipal utility in the country, and one of the busiest airports in the world. He led LA’s successful bid to return the summer Olympic Games to American soil for the first time in three decades. He currently chairs LA Metro, the country’s second-busiest transit agency, which is building or extending 15 new transit lines and shifting to an all-electric fleet, said a White House brief.

  • India welcomes confirmation of Eric Garcetti as U.S. Ambassador

    India welcomes confirmation of Eric Garcetti as U.S. Ambassador

    NEW DELHI (TIP): India has welcomed the confirmation of U.S. Ambassador-designate Eric Garcetti by the Senate saying that New Delhi looks forward to work with him to advance bilateral relations. The statement from the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) came as past comments from Mr. Garcetti on the human rights record of India became viral over the past week which drew criticism from multiple stakeholders, including the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP).

    “Let me emphasize, we welcome the confirmation of Mr. Eric Garcetti as the Ambassador to India. We look forward to working with him to take forward our multifaceted bilateral relation,” said MEA spokesperson Arindam Bagchi in response to a question from The Hindu. Mr. Garcetti’s confirmation had been stuck at the legislative level in the U.S. where he faced multiple hurdles, including allegations of sexual harassment by his chief of staff Rick Jacobs.

    Mr. Garcetti’s confirmation was expected since July 2021 when President Joe Biden nominated him to be the U.S. Ambassador to India. Further revelations on Mr. Garcetti came in a right-wing news portal Daily Caller that alleged he had close links with Chinese officials. At the same time, a 2021 video showing him speak on India’s Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) also went viral. In the video Mr. Garcetti is shown arguing before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee that he will take up human rights issues in India during his tenure and said, “These will not just be afterthoughts for me…I have fought for human rights on four different continents and will be a core part of what I will pursue with my Indian counterpart.” Responding to the video, VHP’s national spokesperson Vinod Bansal told The Hindu that Mr. Garcetti’s remarks on the CAA and the human rights scenario in India showed “his lack of understanding” of the Indian scenario.

    “We welcome his confirmation but his comments on the largest democracy in the world shows that he is not fully informed about the Indian scenario. It will be better if he forms a better understanding of the issues relevant to India before taking up the post of the U.S. Ambassador here,” said Mr. Bansal alleging that there had been a spike in “anti-India “propaganda” in the U.S.

    Mr. Bagchi, however, clarified that Mr. Garcetti’s comments on CAA did not originate recently and said, “Our position on many of these issues are well known.”

    (Source: The Hindu)

     

     

     

  • Cloture motion filed for Garcetti’s nomination; moves step closer to confirmation by US Senate

    Cloture motion filed for Garcetti’s nomination; moves step closer to confirmation by US Senate

    WASHINGTON, D.C. (TIP): The nomination of Eric Garcetti for US Ambassador to India moved a step closer to being confirmed by the Senate as it adopted a cloture motion, indicating that the ruling Democrats have the support of a super-majority for his selection for the key position.
    Such a move by Senate Majority Leader Senator Chuck Schumer came a day after the Senate Foreign Relations Committee at its business meeting voted 13-8 in favor of his nomination.
    Garcetti’s nomination is pending before the US Congress since July 2021, when he was nominated for the prestigious diplomatic posting by President Joe Biden.
    His nomination was not brought to the Senate floor for a vote during the last Congress as the ruling Democratic Party did not have enough support to get the 52-year-old close aide of Biden through.
    On Thursday, March 9 afternoon, a Senate clerk read and brought the nomination of Garcetti to be Ambassador of the US to India on the Senate floor.
    “I send the cloture motion to the desk,” Schumer said on the floor which was adopted by a voice vote. A cloture motion is a procedural motion that, if adopted, limits further debate on the matter at hand. It allows the majority to defeat efforts by the minority to delay or obstruct proceedings on a matter by showing the matter has the support of a super-majority. After that, the clerk read a message from 16 senators.
    “We, the undersigned senators, in accordance with the provisions of rule 22 of the standing rules of the Senate do hereby move to bring to a close debate on the nomination of executive counter number 65, Eric Garcetti of California to be ambassador extraordinary and plenipotentiary of the United States of America to the Republic of India,” the clerk said.
    Schumer sought and received consent that the names of the 16 Senators are not read, following which the cloture motion was agreed to. Kenneth Juster, the last occupant of the ambassadorial residence of the US in New Delhi, stepped down in January 2021 after the change of government in America.
    During Thursday’s session, Schumer also got a similar cloture motion passed on the nomination of Indian-American Ravi Chaudhary to be an Assistant Secretary of the Air Force.

  • Senate Committee Confirms Garcetti nomination as US Ambassador to India

    Senate Committee Confirms Garcetti nomination as US Ambassador to India

    WASHINGTON, D.C. (TIP): Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti, who played a key role in the city landing the hosting rights for the 2028 Olympic and Paralympic Games, has moved a step closer to being appointed the United States Ambassador to India. The Senate Foreign Relations Committee this week confirmed the nomination of Garcetti to the role. It now needs to be approved by a majority of the US Senate, which is expected to be a formality.

    Garcetti had been widely tipped to be appointed as the US Ambassador to India before President Joe Biden announced the nomination on July 9. The 50-year-old had considered standing for President last year but decided against putting his name forward and instead threw his support behind Biden, becoming part of his inner circle.

    It had been expected that Garcetti would be rewarded by Biden with a role in his White House Cabinet.

    Garcetti, however, stepped back from accepting such a position because he claimed he could not leave his role as Mayor when Los Angeles was struggling to recover from the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. Under election rules, Garcetti has to step down in November 2022 after completing two terms as Los Angeles Mayor.

    The White House credited Garcetti with leading the city’s successful bid to host the 2028 Olympics when announcing the proposed appointment.

    Helping Los Angeles secure the Games for a third time, following 1932 and 1984, will be considered a highlight of Garcetti’s time as Mayor.

    But he has faced criticism for failing to tackle Los Angeles’ homelessness problem, despite the Federal Government releasing funds to help address it during the pandemic. Garcetti has also come under fire for failing to tackle the problem of many streets and sidewalks remaining cratered and crumbling, despite his early pledge to make fixing them a cornerstone of his administration.

    Under Garcetti, the murder rate in Los Angeles has also continued to climb. Garcetti was last month questioned by Senators over the alleged sexual harassment committed by his former adviser, Rick Jacobs.

    “I want to say unequivocally that I never witnessed, nor was it brought to my attention, that behavior that has been alleged,” Garcetti said during an appearance in front of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

    “And I also want to assure you that if it had been, I would have immediately taken action to stop that.” Los Angeles was given the right to stage the 2028 Olympics by the International Olympic Committee in September 2017 in an historic double award, which saw Paris allocated as hosts of the Games in 2024.

    (Agencies)