Impact of Pannun murder plot on India-US ties

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Context

• The US has accused that Indian government official was directed to plot to murder Khalistani terrorist Gurpatwant Singh Pannun on American soil.

READ ALL ABOUT KHALISTAN ISSUE:

https://www.iasgyan.in/daily-current-affairs/khalistan-movement-9

https://www.iasgyan.in/daily-current-affairs/india-canada-relations-hit-a-low

https://www.iasgyan.in/daily-current-affairs/khalistan

Gurpatwant Singh Pannun

• Gurpatwant Singh Pannun is one of the main leaders of the Khalistan movement.
• He advocates for a religion-based separate state to be split out from Punjab and many neighbouring areas in India, to be known as Khalistan.
• He is the legal advisor and spokesperson for Sikhs for Justice (SFJ), which aims to promote the idea of a separate Sikh state.

Impact of the allegation on India-US Ties

Statement given by the US White House Government:

• Charges by the US Justice Department on India will not affect Washington's strategic ties with New Delhi, although the US takes the matter seriously.
• India remains a strategic partner US is going to continue to work to improve and strengthen that strategic partnership with India.

US-India ties

• Delhi’s depth of strategic ties with Washington gives it some manoeuvring space to navigate the turmoil the indictment has unleashed.
• And this is where one of the key debates of India-US ties has re-emerged — is it a values-based relationship or an interests-based one? And, when the stakes are high, do interests trump values?
• In the US, this question is especially difficult for a Democratic administration, which places a premium on values, unlike predecessor Donald Trump.
• The US-India ties have truly been forged in crisis over the last 75 years.
• The India’s relationship with the US has been the most comprehensive association the country has had since independence…this is truly a relationship forged in crisis.
• The relationship has gone through years of ups and downs, from the 1971 war when the US under Nixon-Kissinger took a hostile stance, the two nuclear tests in 1974 and 1998 which saw sanctions imposed, and then the thaw, culminating in the Indo-US nuclear deal.
• Despite challenges like the diplomatic differences over Khobragade’s arrest and the recent divergences over the Russia-Ukraine war, the ties have held steady.
• With the US being India’s largest trading partner with a bilateral trade in goods and services crossing US$ 191 billion in 2022, and both countries acting in coordination to confront Chinese belligerence in the Indo-Pacific region, the points of convergences are far too many — sea to stars — and stakes very high.
• So, it is in New Delhi’s interest to be transparent with Washington, and take “necessary follow-up action based on the findings of the high-level probe committee” to avoid any reputational cost.
• Or else, India and the US will have a Pannun-sized problem.

PRACTICE QUESTION Q. One of the key debates of India-US ties has re-emerged of whether it is a values-based relationship or an interests-based one. What is your take on this?