On Thursday, the American state released a statement denying Russia’s claims of interference in India’s elections. State department spokesperson Matthew Miller responding to media questions said, “We don’t involve ourselves in elections in India as we don’t involve ourselves in elections anywhere in the world.”
He further refrained from commenting on the Pannun case and stressed that it was an ongoing legal matter where allegations persist until proven guilty before the jury.
“Unfounded accusations”, says Russia on Pannun Plot
In the light of the ongoing general elections, with simultaneous investigations on the Pannun case going on in the United States with few Indian names popping up, Russia drew a parallel speculating that the country is attempting to “complicate” the ongoing elections in India.
The Washington Post had ignited the controversy a couple weeks ago. It claimed that officials from RAW, India’s intelligence agency, were involved in the alleged murder attempt of Gurupatwant Singh Pannun, a renowned Khalistani activist.
Russia’s claim that US is interfering in India Elections comes after the Russia’s MFA spokesperson Maria Zakharova, on 8 May, in a press conference, condemned the investigations and called out the state, referring to the Washington Post, for making baseless allegations against India and other countries regarding religious freedom violations. She pointed out the United States’ lack of simple understanding of India’s national mentality and historical context, labeling it as a ‘disrespect’ to the Indian state.
“Unfounded Accusations:” US Aims to Destabilise India During #LokSabha2024 – Russian Foreign Ministry
Spox Maria Zakharova has said Washington lacks simple understanding of India’s national mentality and history, as America continues to make “unfounded accusations” about… pic.twitter.com/M8G0gtiP92
— RT_India (@RT_India_news) May 8, 2024
It has also been argued by the political analysts that US and its media organisations coming up with the Pannun Plot revelation is ‘an effort towards interfering in the domestic matters of Indian social and political tapestry’ – given the sensitive time of Elections when the Khalistan issue has been making headlines.
It is also worth noting that India is facing hostility from Canada too on the Khalistani issue with its recent arrest of 4 Indians in the Nijjar Killings Case.
Does the US have a history of meddling with foreign elections ?
While Mr. Millers firmly denied meddling with elections “anywhere in the world”, American imprints throughout the history of elections in different parts of the world suggest a different story.
One of the most famous examples of US foreign electoral interference came at the dawn of the Cold War in 1948, when the CIA (in its first covert action) secretly subsidized public efforts to ensure that communist candidates were defeated in elections in Italy. These and similar practices, covert and overt, continued throughout the Cold War, wrote Prof. Jack Goldsmith at Harvard Law in a PS op-ed.
But this was just a start. Further incidents include 1999 Albanian elections, Bolivian elections (thrice), elections in Brazil and Canada(twice), Chile, Czechoslovakia, Costa Rica, Greece, Israel..the list goes on. And it is unlikely that a country with a past record of multiple electoral rigging, would hesitate to do another — presenting a stark contrast to Mr. Millers’ statement on Thursday’s Press Briefing.
Russia has a maligned history too
The US enemy country, Russia who didn’t hesitate to call out the former’s alleged political meddling is itself guilty of conducting these alleged practices in India and influencing its political landscape to quite an extent.
The Mitrokhin Archive II, a book co authored by a former KGB defector published in 2005 detailing significant KGB operations, holds evidence to the fact. The book describes India as “a model of KGB infiltration of a Third World Government” with “scores of sources throughout the Indian government, in intelligence, counter-intelligence, defense and foreign ministries and the police..”
It details two KGB operations rigging the Indian elections — in the 1967 general election, aka ‘political earthquake’ in India, it had covertly supported the Communist Party Of India. A decade later, it again carried out an intelligence operation during the 1977 general elections to support the Indian National Congress– marking a shift in partnership from CPI.
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Just like the colonial era, when a country enslaved the other for its selfish gains, the modern era is no different either. Colonies do not exist anymore but a subtle and more clandestine version of enslavement practice has been adopted by the powerful intelligence agencies of countries around the globe.
