Biden admn 'bent backwards' to be very polite in its public response to Canadian allegations against India: Expert

Washington, November 28

The Biden administration, because of the significance it attaches to its ties with New Delhi, “bent backwards” to be very polite in its public responses following the Canadian allegations against India over the killing of one of its citizens, a top American expert on India-US relations has said.

“I think the US response was actually quite remarkable because Canada is a very close ally, and if it was any other country than India, I think the US response would’ve been much more vocal and much more strident,” Ashley J Tellis, the Tata Chair for Strategic Affairs and a senior fellow at the prestigious Carnegie Endowment for International Peace told PTI in an interview.

Tellis was responding to a question on the criticism in India about the US response to the Canadian allegations that they were investigating allegations that the Indian government was involved in the killing of Khalistani separatist Hardeep Singh Nijjar in Canada.

India has dismissed the allegations as “absurd” and “motivated” and has told Canada to provide it with any evidence that it might have.

The Biden administration has expressed concern over the allegations and urged India to cooperate with Canadian authorities in this investigation.

“I think this administration bent backwards to be very, very polite in its public response, encouraging India to obviously join the Canadian investigation, but without uttering any words of direct condemnation. And I think that is quite remarkable for the administration. I think people should recognise how different the administration’s response was, both in its tonality and in its substance,” Tellis said in response to a question.

Tellis, who is considered to be the most respectable and foremost American expert on Indian issues, said that the three years of the Biden administration have been fantastic for the India-US relationship.