Ahead of demitting post as U.S. envoy, Garcetti calls for accountability in Pannun case, points to ‘record’ achievements during tenure
The Modi government’s announcement of the results of its high-level inquiry into the Pannun case was a “positive first step”, but not the end of the U.S.’s expectations of action in the alleged assassination plot, said outgoing U.S. Ambassador Eric Garcetti in New Delhi on Thursday (January 16, 2025).
In the first official reaction to the government’s statement that it had identified an “individual”, believed to be a former Research and Analysis Wing (R&AW) official, as responsible for the conspiracy to assassinate Khalistani activist Pannun, Mr. Garcetti welcomed the statement and said it must now lead to a full prosecution. He also called for “systemic change” to ensure this doesn’t “happen again”.
“It wasn’t just about identifying them, it will be about a prosecution, which they alluded to [in the statement],” Mr. Garcetti told The Hindu in an interview before demitting office. “I think we were clear, this has to be about accountability and systemic change and never happening again,” he added.
The U.S. Department of Justice (DoJ) has filed a chargesheet in the case in New York.
When asked if the U.S. would now demand the extradition of the individual identified but not named as former intelligence official Vikash Yadav, Mr. Garcetti said that the case would proceed in the United States “independent from anything here in India”. He said that the U.S. wants India to “take seriously any malfeasance that has happened”, and encouraged “Indian counterparts to share information and hold people accountable for provable crimes where they are”. He denied that the Pannun case investigation, that has been raised by the U.S. government at several levels, including between the two leaders, as well as the recent DoJ indictment of the Adani Group for alleged corrupt practices, had overshadowed his tenure.
“We’ve broken more records in two years, and I think we lose sight of what the core of this relationship is and its accomplishments, if we let the clickable moments overshadow the truth,” he said, referring to “record” figures in trade, defence exercises, visas and students travelling to the U.S. “It’s not whether you love each other… It’s whether after a fight, you can navigate through that,” he added, likening the India-U.S. relationship to a marriage.
Mr. Garcetti, a political appointee of the Biden administration who took charge as U.S. Ambassador to India in May 2023, is expected to step down as the next U.S. President, Donald Trump, will be sworn in on January 20. When asked, he denied any knowledge of the invitations to various world leaders for the inauguration, and whether Prime Minister Narendra Modi had been excluded for any reason. He said he expected to hear an announcement on high-level contact between the Modi government and the new Trump administration in the next few days, as External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar will represent India at the ceremony in Washington.
Mr. Garcetti said he expected the next steps in the agreement for transfer of technology for the GE-414 jet engine deal with Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) to be completed in due course. He denied that any delay in the agreement could be compared to the India-U.S. civil nuclear agreement, where more than 15 years after the original memoranda were signed, and a decade since Mr. Modi and U.S. President Obama announced the deal “was done”, no U.S. company set up a nuclear power plant in India, primarily due to legal issues with India’s civil liability law.
“This is for India to resolve on its own, but it is the responsibility of the historic agreement we made almost 20 years ago to conclude this agreement, and it is a lost opportunity if we don’t,” Mr. Garcetti added.
U.S. government officials have said repeatedly, including during visits by NSA Jake Sullivan and State Department officials to New Delhi, that India must acknowledge the seriousness of the U.S.’s allegations, ensure a prosecution of those responsible for targeting Pannun as well as an assurance that there would not be another such attempt on U.S. soil. In contrast to the flat denial of similar allegations by the Canadian government, that has alleged Indian intelligence officials were responsible for the killing of a Khalistani activist there as well, India had agreed to institute a high-level enquiry committee to look into the U.S. allegations in November 2023.
On Wednesday, the government announced that “after a long enquiry”, the committee had recommended legal action “against an individual, whose earlier criminal links and antecedents also came to notice during the enquiry”, and also recommended “functional improvements in systems and procedures as also initiation of steps that could strengthen India’s response capability, ensure systematic controls and coordinated action in dealing with matters like this”.
In a report released this month to the Parliamentary Committee on External Affairs, the Ministry of External Affairs had also revealed that “covert actions are being taken for dismantling the terrorist networks and safe havens functioning across India’s borders as any overt actions will lead to breach of international law,” without furnishing further details of its actions in neighbouring countries. Excerpts from an exclusive interview:
The Indian government has put out a statement now saying that it has identified one individual for the Pannun case. Does that satisfy you?
It’s a very positive first step. I mean, it wasn’t just about identifying them, it will be about a prosecution, which they alluded to [in the statement], and prosecutions bring facts and information, but also the systemic change. I think we were clear, this has to be about accountability and systemic change and never happening again. So it’s very encouraging to me, I think to the doubters, who said there that these conversations and assurances were just two countries that were never going to see eye to eye. I think we’ve heard each other. My interactions privately have always been taken very seriously, and the delivery of action is a very positive step forward. But I’ve been asked a couple times, is this done now? No. The identification of a person in the Indian system is just a step, but it’s a very positive one.
What’s the next step then? Is the US going to want to extradite this individual?
Well, there’s a case going on in the United States, and that will be independent from anything here in India. Our conversations have always been that we want India, as a friend, to take seriously any malfeasance that has happened, and there’s two systems that can achieve that. There’s one that’s already underway in the United States, and we certainly welcome the partnership with our Indian counterparts to share information and hold people accountable for provable crimes where they are.
Your tenure India that is coming to a close, saw three big visits (2 by PM Modi to US and 1 by President Biden to India), but it seems as if this was overshadowed by these cases, the Pannun case, the Adani case, we’ve heard the ruling party of India actually say publicly they think the US State Department is conspiring against India. Do you think the positives of your tenure have been overshadowed by these cases?
I couldn’t disagree more. [When] I pick up the phone the next day wondering, would people pick it up? Would they say we have to put a pause [on relations]? And I’d get the opposite reaction- Let’s accelerate more in Defence and Space and culture and opening up new consulates and having more visas and cultural artifact exchanges and technology exchanges and semiconductors coming here.
We’ve broken more records in two years, and I think we lose sight of what the core of this relationship is and its accomplishments, if we let the clickable moments overshadow the truth. And that is our people want to be closer together, that our businesses are closer together, that our leaders have never been closer and that there’s been clear orders from above and a clear desire from below to strengthen and deepen that relationship. A generation ago, this relationship between Americans and Indians and America and India was unthinkable. A generation from now, it will be indispensable.
The true test of a relationship isn’t just the peaks that we’ve achieved, the record trade, record defence exercises, record visas, record students. It’s how we navigate the values. And at those moments of navigating the values, we are hearing each other more clearly. It’s like a marriage. It’s not whether you love each other, obviously you do. It’s whether after a fight, you can navigate through that. We’re showing that this is a relationship here to stay. That is the message of the last couple years, but quite frankly it’s the message of the last 20 years, too.
Are you saying that [the problems], what the governments said was really just rhetoric?
Never mistake the loudest voices as being the most representative, or being the business that is at hand. You can find a voice to say anything at a given point at time, but it is our responsibility as policy makers, journalists etc to look at the actual actions that have been accomplished.
In terms of actions, the US announced it was taking 3 entities of its nuclear ban list – but the real block to the Civil nuclear deal is not the bans, but India’s civil liability law that the US has problems with. 10 years after Obama-Modi announced the nuclear deal was “done”, it clearly is not done. What stops it?
It is long overdue, I couldn’t agree more. There was positive action this week with the US announcing taking the entities of its list, and the discussion Prime Minister Modi and President Biden had at his home, that I witnessed- and I think the Indian government is keen to find a solution for the big nuclear companies. What has shifted since that statement 10 years ago is the technology for Small Modular Reactors (SMRs), and I think India and the US are at the brink of historic joint ventures, joint research and manufacture on these.
Either we cede this space to China and others to dominate the energy future or we figure out a way to do this together. I’ve had encouraging conversations with both Opposition leaders and BJP leaders who think there is a solution. This is for India to resolve on its own, but it is the responsibility of the historic agreement we made almost 20 years ago to conclude this agreement, and it is a lost opportunity if we don’t. I should add that I’ve seen more movement on this in the last 6 months than we have for the last 6 years.
10 years from now, could we also be looking at the current transfer of technology agreement for the GE-414 engines and say it’s a lost opportunity too, given the lack of progress in concluding the deal?
No, it’s apples and oranges, no comparison between the two. The technology [for GE414] is being shared, and there’s no legal complications. The two companies GE and HAL are in talks about how to set it up. It is a complex deal for the most exquisite jet engines made in history, and they are talking about the mechanics of how to go forward.
Could you put a timeline on when it will be done?
I am not a jet engine manufacturer, so no I can’t. But there is no announcement required now- the deal is done and it is about ensuring the companies to work out the details of the manufacturing process. But I am confident that in 20-30 years, American engines will fuel India’s next generation of fighter jets.
You speak of such a strong relationship between the two, and yet, why has there been no announcement of an invitation to Prime Minister Modi to attend the Trump inaugural ceremony on Monday, as some other leaders have been?
I don’t know about that- I can’t speak to that. I don’t know whether [PM Modi] was or was not invited. But External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar being there is huge, as normally there haven’t been any foreign leaders at the inaugural. I think you will see in the first few days [of the Trump administration], there will be interactions right at the top, just as it has been in the [Biden] administration from day one. President Trump elevated the Quad in 2018, President Biden took it further, and I think you will see some announcements in the first few days of the [new administration].
Pannun inquiry report is a ‘positive first step’, but process not done yet, says U.S. Ambassador Garcetti
Ahead of demitting post as U.S. envoy, Garcetti calls for accountability in Pannun case, points to ‘record’ achievements during tenure
The Modi government’s announcement of the results of its high-level inquiry into the Pannun case was a “positive first step”, but not the end of the U.S.’s expectations of action in the alleged assassination plot, said outgoing U.S. Ambassador Eric Garcetti in New Delhi on Thursday (January 16, 2025).
In the first official reaction to the government’s statement that it had identified an “individual”, believed to be a former Research and Analysis Wing (R&AW) official, as responsible for the conspiracy to assassinate Khalistani activist Pannun, Mr. Garcetti welcomed the statement and said it must now lead to a full prosecution. He also called for “systemic change” to ensure this doesn’t “happen again”.
“It wasn’t just about identifying them, it will be about a prosecution, which they alluded to [in the statement],” Mr. Garcetti told The Hindu in an interview before demitting office. “I think we were clear, this has to be about accountability and systemic change and never happening again,” he added.
The U.S. Department of Justice (DoJ) has filed a chargesheet in the case in New York.
When asked if the U.S. would now demand the extradition of the individual identified but not named as former intelligence official Vikash Yadav, Mr. Garcetti said that the case would proceed in the United States “independent from anything here in India”. He said that the U.S. wants India to “take seriously any malfeasance that has happened”, and encouraged “Indian counterparts to share information and hold people accountable for provable crimes where they are”. He denied that the Pannun case investigation, that has been raised by the U.S. government at several levels, including between the two leaders, as well as the recent DoJ indictment of the Adani Group for alleged corrupt practices, had overshadowed his tenure.
“We’ve broken more records in two years, and I think we lose sight of what the core of this relationship is and its accomplishments, if we let the clickable moments overshadow the truth,” he said, referring to “record” figures in trade, defence exercises, visas and students travelling to the U.S. “It’s not whether you love each other… It’s whether after a fight, you can navigate through that,” he added, likening the India-U.S. relationship to a marriage.
Mr. Garcetti, a political appointee of the Biden administration who took charge as U.S. Ambassador to India in May 2023, is expected to step down as the next U.S. President, Donald Trump, will be sworn in on January 20. When asked, he denied any knowledge of the invitations to various world leaders for the inauguration, and whether Prime Minister Narendra Modi had been excluded for any reason. He said he expected to hear an announcement on high-level contact between the Modi government and the new Trump administration in the next few days, as External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar will represent India at the ceremony in Washington.
Mr. Garcetti said he expected the next steps in the agreement for transfer of technology for the GE-414 jet engine deal with Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) to be completed in due course. He denied that any delay in the agreement could be compared to the India-U.S. civil nuclear agreement, where more than 15 years after the original memoranda were signed, and a decade since Mr. Modi and U.S. President Obama announced the deal “was done”, no U.S. company set up a nuclear power plant in India, primarily due to legal issues with India’s civil liability law.
“This is for India to resolve on its own, but it is the responsibility of the historic agreement we made almost 20 years ago to conclude this agreement, and it is a lost opportunity if we don’t,” Mr. Garcetti added.
U.S. government officials have said repeatedly, including during visits by NSA Jake Sullivan and State Department officials to New Delhi, that India must acknowledge the seriousness of the U.S.’s allegations, ensure a prosecution of those responsible for targeting Pannun as well as an assurance that there would not be another such attempt on U.S. soil. In contrast to the flat denial of similar allegations by the Canadian government, that has alleged Indian intelligence officials were responsible for the killing of a Khalistani activist there as well, India had agreed to institute a high-level enquiry committee to look into the U.S. allegations in November 2023.
On Wednesday, the government announced that “after a long enquiry”, the committee had recommended legal action “against an individual, whose earlier criminal links and antecedents also came to notice during the enquiry”, and also recommended “functional improvements in systems and procedures as also initiation of steps that could strengthen India’s response capability, ensure systematic controls and coordinated action in dealing with matters like this”.
In a report released this month to the Parliamentary Committee on External Affairs, the Ministry of External Affairs had also revealed that “covert actions are being taken for dismantling the terrorist networks and safe havens functioning across India’s borders as any overt actions will lead to breach of international law,” without furnishing further details of its actions in neighbouring countries. Excerpts from an exclusive interview:
The Indian government has put out a statement now saying that it has identified one individual for the Pannun case. Does that satisfy you?
It’s a very positive first step. I mean, it wasn’t just about identifying them, it will be about a prosecution, which they alluded to [in the statement], and prosecutions bring facts and information, but also the systemic change. I think we were clear, this has to be about accountability and systemic change and never happening again. So it’s very encouraging to me, I think to the doubters, who said there that these conversations and assurances were just two countries that were never going to see eye to eye. I think we’ve heard each other. My interactions privately have always been taken very seriously, and the delivery of action is a very positive step forward. But I’ve been asked a couple times, is this done now? No. The identification of a person in the Indian system is just a step, but it’s a very positive one.
What’s the next step then? Is the US going to want to extradite this individual?
Well, there’s a case going on in the United States, and that will be independent from anything here in India. Our conversations have always been that we want India, as a friend, to take seriously any malfeasance that has happened, and there’s two systems that can achieve that. There’s one that’s already underway in the United States, and we certainly welcome the partnership with our Indian counterparts to share information and hold people accountable for provable crimes where they are.
Your tenure India that is coming to a close, saw three big visits (2 by PM Modi to US and 1 by President Biden to India), but it seems as if this was overshadowed by these cases, the Pannun case, the Adani case, we’ve heard the ruling party of India actually say publicly they think the US State Department is conspiring against India. Do you think the positives of your tenure have been overshadowed by these cases?
I couldn’t disagree more. [When] I pick up the phone the next day wondering, would people pick it up? Would they say we have to put a pause [on relations]? And I’d get the opposite reaction- Let’s accelerate more in Defence and Space and culture and opening up new consulates and having more visas and cultural artifact exchanges and technology exchanges and semiconductors coming here.
We’ve broken more records in two years, and I think we lose sight of what the core of this relationship is and its accomplishments, if we let the clickable moments overshadow the truth. And that is our people want to be closer together, that our businesses are closer together, that our leaders have never been closer and that there’s been clear orders from above and a clear desire from below to strengthen and deepen that relationship. A generation ago, this relationship between Americans and Indians and America and India was unthinkable. A generation from now, it will be indispensable.
The true test of a relationship isn’t just the peaks that we’ve achieved, the record trade, record defence exercises, record visas, record students. It’s how we navigate the values. And at those moments of navigating the values, we are hearing each other more clearly. It’s like a marriage. It’s not whether you love each other, obviously you do. It’s whether after a fight, you can navigate through that. We’re showing that this is a relationship here to stay. That is the message of the last couple years, but quite frankly it’s the message of the last 20 years, too.
Are you saying that [the problems], what the governments said was really just rhetoric?
Never mistake the loudest voices as being the most representative, or being the business that is at hand. You can find a voice to say anything at a given point at time, but it is our responsibility as policy makers, journalists etc to look at the actual actions that have been accomplished.
In terms of actions, the US announced it was taking 3 entities of its nuclear ban list – but the real block to the Civil nuclear deal is not the bans, but India’s civil liability law that the US has problems with. 10 years after Obama-Modi announced the nuclear deal was “done”, it clearly is not done. What stops it?
It is long overdue, I couldn’t agree more. There was positive action this week with the US announcing taking the entities of its list, and the discussion Prime Minister Modi and President Biden had at his home, that I witnessed- and I think the Indian government is keen to find a solution for the big nuclear companies. What has shifted since that statement 10 years ago is the technology for Small Modular Reactors (SMRs), and I think India and the US are at the brink of historic joint ventures, joint research and manufacture on these.
Either we cede this space to China and others to dominate the energy future or we figure out a way to do this together. I’ve had encouraging conversations with both Opposition leaders and BJP leaders who think there is a solution. This is for India to resolve on its own, but it is the responsibility of the historic agreement we made almost 20 years ago to conclude this agreement, and it is a lost opportunity if we don’t. I should add that I’ve seen more movement on this in the last 6 months than we have for the last 6 years.
10 years from now, could we also be looking at the current transfer of technology agreement for the GE-414 engines and say it’s a lost opportunity too, given the lack of progress in concluding the deal?
No, it’s apples and oranges, no comparison between the two. The technology [for GE414] is being shared, and there’s no legal complications. The two companies GE and HAL are in talks about how to set it up. It is a complex deal for the most exquisite jet engines made in history, and they are talking about the mechanics of how to go forward.
Could you put a timeline on when it will be done?
I am not a jet engine manufacturer, so no I can’t. But there is no announcement required now- the deal is done and it is about ensuring the companies to work out the details of the manufacturing process. But I am confident that in 20-30 years, American engines will fuel India’s next generation of fighter jets.
You speak of such a strong relationship between the two, and yet, why has there been no announcement of an invitation to Prime Minister Modi to attend the Trump inaugural ceremony on Monday, as some other leaders have been?
I don’t know about that- I can’t speak to that. I don’t know whether [PM Modi] was or was not invited. But External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar being there is huge, as normally there haven’t been any foreign leaders at the inaugural. I think you will see in the first few days [of the Trump administration], there will be interactions right at the top, just as it has been in the [Biden] administration from day one. President Trump elevated the Quad in 2018, President Biden took it further, and I think you will see some announcements in the first few days of the [new administration].
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