“India values its strategic autonomy…”: MEA on US envoy Garcetti’s remarks

India values its strategic autonomy and has its own and different views, while the US Ambassador is entitled to his opinion, the Ministry of External Affairs said while reacting to the recent remarks by envoy Eric Garcetti.

MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal further said that the comprehensive global strategic partnership between the two nations gives them the space “to agree to disagree” on certain issues, while respecting each other’s viewpoints.

“India, like many other countries, values its strategic autonomy. The US Ambassador is entitled to his opinion. We also have our own and different views. Our comprehensive global strategic partnership with the US gives us the space to agree to disagree on certain issues, while respecting each other’s viewpoints,” Jaiswal said in the weekly press briefing on Friday.

This comes after envoy Garcetti, in veiled remarks, said that there is no such thing as “strategic autonomy” in times of conflict. His remarks came soon after Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s recent visit to Russia.

“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, and colleagues in times of need,” Garcetti said at an event last week.

Further, speaking of India-US relations, the MEA said it is a “comprehensive, strategic, global partnership,” and the two countries engage with each other on several aspects of the relationship.

“It’s a comprehensive, strategic, global partnership. We have a lot of issues to discuss and both sides engage with each other on several aspects of the relationship, and we discuss all issues that are of interest to both parties…It is not our practice to share details of diplomatic conversations,” Jaiswal added.

PM Modi, who was on an official visit to Moscow recently, met with Russian President Vladimir Putin there and outlined their goals to eliminate non-tariff trade barriers and achieve a mutual trade volume of over USD 100 billion by 2030.

The two leaders also decided to continue dialogue on the liberalization of bilateral trade, including the possibility of establishing the EAEU-India Free Trade Area, according to the Leaders’ Joint Statement released following the meeting.

They also decided to work on developing a bilateral settlement system using national currencies and the consistent introduction of digital financial instruments for mutual settlements.