Amidst “differences” with the United States over India’s ties with Russia and a number of other issues, New Delhi has announced that it will send Vinay Kwatra, who retired as Foreign Secretary just last week, to Washington as India’s new Ambassador, filling a position that has been lying vacant for more than six months.
According to a statement by the Ministry of External Affairs, Mr. Kwatra will “take up the assignment shortly”. Mr. Kwatra’s larger task ahead will be to assess the upcoming U.S. Presidential elections in November and engage with the new administration. He will also be expected to prepare for a possible visit by U.S. President Joseph Biden for the Quad Summit that India is due to host later this year. His challenge will be to smooth over recent differences between the two countries over the Pannun case, and Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow, as well as recent U.S. pronouncements on the human rights situation in India.
Speedy appointment
Officials said both New Delhi and Washington sought to expedite the process of appointing the new Ambassador, as indicated by the speed with which requests were made and approved: Mr. Kwatra handed over charge to the new Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri on July 15, after which his Ambassadorial appointment was approved by Washington in less than a week. It is also significant that New Delhi has decided to post an Indian Foreign Service officer who retired in a senior position, rather than an officer still in service, as has been the practice for two decades.
Through much of the 1980s and 1990s, New Delhi had posted “political appointees” as U.S. Ambassadors, including former Minister and Jammu and Kashmir Governor Karan Singh, former West Bengal Governor Siddhartha Shankar Ray, and former Cabinet Secretary Naresh Chandra. In 2001, the government had appointed retiring Foreign Secretary Lalit Mansingh to the U.S., but subsequently, all eight Indian envoys to Washington between 2004 and 2024 were serving Foreign Service officers. Mr. Kwatra’s predecessor in South Block, Harsh Shringla, had in fact been Ambassador to the U.S. before he became Foreign Secretary.
‘Agree to disagree’
In a sign that the government is also taking a more conciliatory position on criticism from the U.S. over the Russia visit, the MEA said on Friday that it “agrees to disagree” with U.S. Ambassador Eric Garcetti over his comments indicating Washington’s disapproval last week. Asked about India’s response to Mr. Garcetti’s statement that in a conflict, “there’s no such thing as strategic autonomy”, MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said that the Ambassador was “entitled to his opinion”.
“India, like many other countries, values its ‘strategic autonomy’,” Mr. Jaiswal told journalists at a weekly media briefing. “Obviously, [the U.S. and India] have different views. Our comprehensive global strategic partnership with the U.S. gives us the space to agree to disagree on certain issues, while respecting each other’s viewpoints,” he added.
‘Blow to peace efforts’
In a similarly toned-down response, the U.S. State department — that had spoken sharply of its “concerns over India’s Russia ties” last week — said on Thursday that India “continues” to be a U.S. partner on a number of key areas, referring to Mr. Modi’s State visit to the U.S. in 2023. “We continue to ask all our partners, including India, to support efforts to realize an enduring and just peace for Ukraine, and we urge Russia to withdraw troops from Ukraine’s sovereign territory,” U.S. State department spokesperson Vedant Patel said.
The sharpest criticism of the PM’s visit to Moscow came from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who had called Mr. Modi’s embrace of Mr. Putin a “devastating blow to peace efforts”. On Friday, External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar tweeted that he had spoken to Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba “about further developing [the India-Ukraine] bilateral relationship,” without mentioning these comments, while officials denied that Ukrainian Ambassador to India Oleksandr Polishchuk had been “summoned” over Mr. Zelenskyy’s comments.
When asked, Mr. Jaiswal said that “regular diplomatic consultations” continued between the two countries.
