Updated: November 24, 2020 7:40:11 am
Antony Blinken. (File photo)
Antony Blinken, the closest foreign policy adviser to US President-elect Joe Biden, was on Monday nominated for secretary of stateand Jake Sullivan, National Security Advisor.
Blinken, 58, a former undersecretary of state under President Barack Obama, began his career at the State Department during the Clinton administration. Sullivan, 43, succeeded Blinken as Vice President Biden’s national security adviser and served as head of policy planning at the State Department under Hillary Clinton.
A look at Blinken’s remarks in recent months gives some insight into his approach to India.
High priority ratio
On July 9, Blinken spoke at the Hudson Institute, Washington DC. “Strengthening and deepening the relationship with India will be a very high priority. It is often important to the future of the Indo-Pacific and the kind of order that we all want; it is fair, stable and hopefully increasingly democratic, and it is vital to being able to address some of these great global challenges, ”he said.
“By the way, I think this has been about the success story of the Republican and Democratic administrations, going back to the Clinton administration, the Bush administration and then the Obama-Biden administration,” he said.
CONTRIBUTION OF THE OFFER: “During the Bush administration, then-Senator Biden partnered with that administration to help secure the peaceful nuclear cooperation agreement, Agreement 123 through the United States Senate, generally important to solidify our relationship,” Blinken said.
DEFENSE COOPERATION: Blinken spoke about the Obama administration making India an “important defense partner.” This epithet was the first time an American administration gave it to someone outside of its traditional partners. “In our own administration, during the Obama-Biden administration, there was concrete progress in a whole series of initiatives and efforts both under Prime Minister Singh and later under Prime Minister Modi. There was this business and defense technology initiative. The idea was to strengthen India’s defense industrial base and that paved the way for American and Indian companies to work together to produce important technology. We made India a so-called important defense partner, ”Blinken said.
PARIS PACT: “Having established that foundation and strengthened the relationship, guess what? We then worked hard to persuade India that it would be more prosperous and more secure if it signed the Paris Climate Agreement. We did it … It was a challenging effort, but Vice President Biden was one of the leaders in the effort to convince our partners in India and they did. I think that is a reflection, again, of the fact that we cannot solve common global challenges without India as part of the agreement, “said Blinken. 📣 Express Explained is now on Telegram
Cashmere and CAA
Blinken raised concerns about the human rights situation in Kashmir and the Citizenship Amendment Act. “Now obviously now we have real challenges and concerns, for example about some of the actions that the government has taken, particularly to crack down on freedom of movement and freedom of expression in Kashmir, some of the citizenship laws, but you are always better connected with a partner and a vital one like India, when you can speak frankly and directly about areas where there are differences even while working to build more cooperation and strengthen the relationship in the future. ” Blinken said.
India’s role in the UN
On August 15, Blinken again participated in a panel discussion on Indo-US ties and raised the issue of UN reforms. “In a Biden administration, we would advocate for India to play a leading role in international institutions and that includes helping India get a seat on a United Nations Security Council,” he said.
China Challenge
“We have a common challenge that it has to deal with an increasingly assertive China in all areas, including its aggression towards India on the Royal Line of Control, but also using its economic power to coerce others and gain an unfair advantage,” Blinken said. “I think you would see Joe Biden as president investing in ourselves, renewing our democracy, working with our close partners like India, affirming our values and engaging China from a position of strength. India has to be a key partner in that effort, “he said.
Cross-border terrorism
Blinken also addressed New Delhi’s concern over cross-border terrorism, without naming Pakistan. “We would work together to strengthen India’s defense and could also add its capabilities as a partner against terrorism. On the question of terrorism, specifically, we have no tolerance for terrorism, in South Asia or anywhere else: cross-border or otherwise, ”he said.
Also in Explained | Why President-elect Joe Biden is unlikely to intervene in Jammu and Kashmir
Vision of Biden 2020
Blinken quoted Biden from 2006 – just before he took office as chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee in 2007-2009 – “My dream is that by 2020, the two closest nations in the world will be India and the United States. “He said,” We are not quite there, but it is a fantastic vision … Joe Biden sees the United States in India as natural partners, and that is the vision that he would help realize as president. “
Sullivan on India
In an interview with The New Yorker in February 2019, Sullivan was asked about how to deal with the Narendra Modi government. He noted that the United States needs to engage with the Modi government, balancing American interests and values.
“It may be picky a word here or there, but the basic idea that we are going to deal with the Prime Minister of India, despite the horrible acts he had overseen in his home state when he was Prime Minister, I cannot disagree with that political decision. I don’t think it was defensible for the American president to simply say, ‘We forbid you to come to the United States. We don’t like it and we won’t take care of it. ‘ I don’t think that’s sustainable, ”Sullivan said.
“Therefore, in my opinion, the way the United States should speak about these issues is to say not that we live perfectly up to our values in every circumstance, but that we always work to take them into account in our decision-making, In a sincere and real way, and that alone, in my opinion, for great power, is pretty impressive. As long as we’re honest and real about doing that and having the tough conversations internally. How do we handle this from Modi? This bothers us. This is a problem. What is the best balance? As long as that is incorporated into serious and sober reflection on how best to manage our interests and values, I believe that American foreign policy is on the right track. It’s when we just say we’re putting that aside because it doesn’t even matter that I think we started down a dark path, and that is the path that I think the Trump Administration has put us on, “he said.
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