The United States refused to grant Prime Minister Narendra Modi a visa between 2005 and 2014 due to his alleged involvement in the 2002 Gujarat Riots. The US government has now said that Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman will be granted immunity in the killing of Jamal Khashoggi, much like Prime Minister Narendra Modi and others before him.
The United States has defended its decision to grant Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman amnesty for his role in the murder of writer Jamal Khashoggi by pointing to the case of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
The US intelligence community determined that Mohammad bin Salman, popularly as MBS, ordered the death of Khashoggi in 2018. But the United States has not sanctioned him and maintains contact with him and the Saudi royal family.
On Thursday, the Joe Biden administration responded to a lawsuit brought by Khashoggi's fiancee, Hatice Cengiz, by claiming that MBS enjoys protection in the United States since he is a head of government. It was only just announced that MBS will be taking over as Saudi Arabia's prime minister. Although Cengiz and human rights organisations were critical of the decision, the Biden administration stood by it and even pointed to a precedent involving Modi in their defence.
What official word has the United States government issued?
The United States imposed sanctions on Modi from 2005 to 2014 for his alleged involvement in the 2002 Gujarat Riots. The prohibition put on his admission into the United States was removed in 2014 when he became the Prime Minister of India. Vedant Patel, principal deputy spokesperson for the US Department of State, defended MBS's immunity by referencing Modi and others.
"The work has been going in this direction for quite some time. Several prior heads of state have been given this title. Examples include Presidents Aristide of Haiti (1993), Mugabe of Zimbabwe (2001), Modi of India (2014, 2018), and Kabila of the DRC (2018, presumably). This is the treatment we have always given presidents, prime ministers, and foreign ministers "the Indian businessman Patel said.
Patel responded to a question about how the US government's stance on MBS was not a stand on the merits of the case but rather a matter of law of the land, given that none of these people, including Modi, had killed a journalist who happened to be a US permanent citizen.
"This in no way reflects our opinion on the case or the horrible murder of Mr. Khashoggi. This reflects the crown prince's legal status as the country's de facto leader, "Patel said.
The US government's citation of Modi to defend MBS has received some criticism from analysts, although there has been no official reaction from New Delhi on this so yet.
To what end was Prime Minister Modi denied entry to the United States?
The then-President George W. Bush denied Modi a visa to travel the United States because of his role in "directly carrying out, at any time, especially egregious abuses of religious freedom," as reported by The Times of India.
The United States authorities revoked both Modi's tourist and business visas in addition to denying him a diplomatic visa.
Moreover, the 2005 news article states, "According to US officials, the stance taken by the State Department on the Gujarat Riots was primarily informed by reports from India's National Human Rights Commission and other independent Indian sources. Annual reports on human rights and religious freedom from the United States Department of State provide extensive findings about the riots in Gujarat and the roles played by the then-BJP government, state police, and other official organs, as well as Chief Minister Narendra Modi."
Nonetheless, the prohibition was lifted once Modi became India's prime minister in 2014. Former US President Barack Obama called Modi within hours of his win and extended an invitation to visit the US.
MBS's complicity in the murder of Jamal Khashoggi
In the United States, Jamal Khashoggi wrote for The Washington Post as a columnist. Turkey's Istanbul embassy was his next stop. It was the last time he was seen. It is believed that he was slain while in the embassy.
Turkish sources said the agents acted on instructions from the highest levels of the Saudi government, but the BBC stated that "Saudi officials said the journalist was slain in a rogue operation" by a team of operatives dispatched to convince him to return to the country.
U.S. officials, however, have come to the conclusion that Saudi Crown Prince MBS was responsible for the murders.
A declassified assessment from the US intelligence community in February 2021 said, "We believe that Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Muhammad bin Salman authorised an operation in Istanbul, Turkey to kidnap or murder Saudi writer Jamal Khashoggi."
The investigation concluded that a "rogue" operation could not have been the cause.
"We reach this conclusion based on the Crown Prince's dominance in the Kingdom's decision-making, the engagement of a senior advisor, and the participation of members of Muhammad bin Salman's security detail in the operation....
Considering the Crown Prince's unchallenged authority over the Kingdom's security and intelligence agencies since 2017, it's very improbable that Saudi authorities would have carried out an operation of this kind without the Crown Prince's authorisation "reported the findings.
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