India-US relationship: Alleged leaked memo, Congressional hearing and decoding intriguing dynamics in bilateral ties

The intricate puzzle that began with the accusations on the assassination of Hardeep Singh Nijjar and the alleged threat against Gurpatwant Singh Pannun is beginning to unravel a little. That unravelling is apparent in what is allegedly a ‘leaked memo’ signed by Foreign secretary Vinay Kwatra and in other incidents such as a Congressional hearing on a rather unusual subject called “transnational repression’, that clubbed India with China and Iran, in terms of countries who harassed and killed their nationals in other countries. All of this is puzzling to say the least, given the strong upward trajectory in Indo-US ties in recent years. Conspiracy theories are buzzing on the circuit, but the truth needs a little more digging, and framing. As they say, its complicated. The article and the ‘memo’ First consider the Intercept article. The magazine has given no link to the alleged ‘leaked memo’ from the foreign office, but alleges that the foreign secretary, sent a memo to “its consulates in North America” that among other things, instructs officials ‘to cooperate with Indian intelligence agencies’ – which is surprising in itself since that is standard practice and doesn’t need any special instruction, that too from the head of the Service –  on “Khalistani extremism”. The ‘memo’ blames Sikh diaspora organisations for “defaming Indian government of “so-called torturing, murdering and disappearing thousands of Sikhs” and “attempting to degrade India’s international image.” Even the un-initiated may wonder what is ‘so called torturing’. The most revealing is the allegation that western governments are supporting the movement as a “geopolitical tool’. It then complains plaintively that despite raising concerns with “US and Canada “(not Australia?).. they keep using human rights and freedom of speech as pretexts, asserting that these organizations have not committed any crime within their territories’. The rest of the article is a cut and paste job, some from its own earlier story retelling the apparent assassinations and harassment that is being organised and most tellingly, quotes “Pakistani intelligence sources” extensively in both articles, leaving no doubt at all as the provenance of this ‘memo’. The alleged memo itself has been put on Twitter – now called ‘X’ – by a handle “ ‘Struggle for Justice - A Sikh story with all of some 900 followers, and who puts out the most explicit abuse of Indians. This a farce from the start. First, no foreign secretary, will write to HCI. He will write to the Ambassador directly. Such a general directive, airing complaints and allegations against the west is unheard of. Then are syntax and spelling errors sprinkled throughout – like directing HCI to ‘add’ Agency people instead of ‘aid’, and asks them to cultivate think tanks like the Royal Canadian Mounted Police’. Then there’s a dead give away. It complains of allegations against India of “Disappearing thousands of Sikhs”. That term – pathetic as it is in terms of correct English usage – is a term commonly used to describe the Pakistani practise of lifting and ‘disappearing’ thousands of Baloch, particularly the youth. This has been going on for years. Whoever made up this memo, might have done better to do at least a spell check, or simply used ChatGPT. In simple terms, this is Islamabad’s attempt to make hay out of the Nijjar episode. That’s it.  No self-respecting foreign office official — not even Pakistani — will write such a sorry letter. Congress takes a hand Come then to the Congressional testimony. That’s a little more complicated. Just as in our Parliament, different ‘interest groups’ put up questions or seek a motion for their own political interests. This particular one was by Freedom House, which had put up a report on the issue of “Transnational Repression’ which identified ‘top ten’ countries who followed these practises, with China heading the list. While it 2022 report does mention India as having slipped in its ‘free’ ranking, its 2023 update has no mention of India at all in the text itself. The testimony by its President Michael Abramowitz however has prominent mention of India and the Canadian episode, presumably because it has been so much in the news. The rest of the hearing is to do with China and Iran, but the India issue is again taken up by Senator Tim Kaine (Democrat from Virginia) who expresses concern that a nation that is seen as a partner engages in such activity on Canadian soil. Virginia has a solid Sikh population, and even had a Sikh as a mayor. It became the 17th state recently to introduce Sikhism in the school syllabus. The Senator is no enemy of India and had earlier backed a resolution in the house recognising Arunachal Pradesh as part of India. He has been ‘sensitive’ on issues of religious tolerance, but that’s it. The follow on that was worrying was from Senator Chris Hollen (another Democrat from Maryland) who brought up a never used provision in the Arms Control Act, that prohibits transfer of weaponry to countries engaged in a ‘consistent pattern’ of acts of intimidation or harassment of individual (not just nationals) on US soil. That seems to have been aimed at India and equally could also apply to NATO ally Turkey. But it does come at a time when the Indian request for 31 MQ-9B Reaper drones – and even more importantly a global Maintenance, Repair, and Overhaul (MRO) facility in India – has been made to the US formally. It now has to clear Congress, a process which was once considered a formality, but could not face headwinds. Senators Hollen and Kaine were also signatories to a letter spearheaded by US Congresswoman Pramila Jaypal, which while proclaiming the importance of the bilateral relationship, had also called on President Joe Biden to raise human rights issues with Prime Minister Narendra Modi during his visit. Remember, his state Virginia has a large Indian origin population, (more than 12 per cent in Washington state). The Senator would be confident of his backing for such a move. He also tweeted his ‘alarm’ at the expulsion of Rahul Gandhi from Parliament. In sum, while the first is a clear – and rather poorly executed – Pakistani linked attempt to spoil relations, it rides on an existing bad press that has taken a serious dip in recent months. The alleged assassination attempt on Gurpatwant Singh Pannun – and the certain US role in alerting Canada to the killing of Nijjar has clearly led to a serious loss of confidence, given the quiet expulsion of R&AW officers from San Francisco and a delay in appointment in Washington. The fact that the chief of the Federal Bureau of Investigation chose to visit Delhi for the first time ever, indicates not just the seriousness of the issue, but also that the US wants to get past this incident, and fast. India in turn has chosen to put out that it has asked the US to share inputs on certain individuals ‘embedded’ in the separatist movement. There is seems to be a recognition that such activities come with an array of transnational organised crime that suits neither. Both should also concentrate on the overlap between those who fund the Khalistan issue, the separatism in Kashmir and the Palestine issue. Consider that one of the authors of The Intercept, Murtaza Hussain has a history of calling out US policy and coverage of the Palestine issue. That’s not a point towards conspiracy. Just that such issues are increasingly being clubbed together, and inevitably will be funded together, using these very same transnational organisation, creating a dangerous web of diverse interests. Meanwhile Indians are justifiably enraged at US hypocrisy in calling out what it does itself all the time. Remember the outrage against US spying on European Union offices, surprising since the US intelligence has been active in Europe for 73 years – and worse, the still underreported and un-investigated blowing up of the oil pipeline that brought oil from Russia, it has acted against the interests of its allies. But the bottom line is this. India has long faced a bad press in the US, which is getting worse as the country’s importance rises. Prime Minister Modi has heaved the country on to the world stage and as elections near, there are many interested parties who don’t want a country with an independent view on where its national interests lie. The present administration has a clear sense of India’s importance. President Biden called it” a defining relationship of the 20th century’ and Presidents don’t just throw around such phraseology unless it means something to their nation’s security. Clearly there are competing interests, some within the US and some outside, all of which are likely to intersect as elections closes in. Time to watch out for the really unexpected. The writer is a Distinguished Fellow at the Institute of Peace and Conflict Studies, New Delhi. She tweets @kartha_tara. Views expressed in the above piece are personal and solely that of the author. They do not necessarily reflect Firstpost_’s_ views. 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