The president-elect of the United States, Joe Biden | Photo credit: PTI
Washington: The Biden administration will place high priority on strengthening the Indo-US relationship by pressuring India to become a permanent member of the UN Security Council, continuing cooperation on terrorism, climate change, health and trade, according to a policy document released by the Biden Campaign during the presidential election.
Biden, 77, defeated incumbent President Donald Trump in a tight presidential election that drew a record number of Americans to cast their votes.
By becoming president of the US, Biden has the opportunity to fulfill his 14-year dream of strengthening the ties between India and the US that he wants to achieve in 2020.
“My dream is that in 2020, the two closest nations in the world will be India and the United States. If that happens, the world will be safer,” Biden had told the now closed India Abroad newspaper in an interview in December. 2006..
While it would be difficult for him to realize this in 2020, he can definitely achieve it during his presidency starting on January 20, 2021.
A policy document released by the Biden Campaign during the tight election gave an idea of how it wants to achieve this.
Topping the list is pressuring India to become a permanent member of the UN Security Council, continuing cooperation against terrorism, strengthening ties on issues such as climate change and health, working towards a multiple increase in bilateral trade. .
Biden played a leadership role, as chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and as vice chairman of the Barack Obama administration, in systematically deepening strategic engagement, people-to-people ties, and collaboration with India on global challenges, according to the policy document. .
“In 2006, Biden announced his vision for the future of US-Indian relations: ‘My dream is that by 2020, the two closest nations in the world will be India and the United States.’ He has also worked to make that vision a reality, including leading the office in Congress, working with Democrats and Republicans, to pass the US-India Civil Nuclear Accord in 2008, “he said.
According to the policy document, it will fulfill its belief that India and the US are natural partners, and a Biden administration will place high priority on continuing to strengthen the US-India relationship.
“No common global challenge can be solved without India and the US working as responsible partners. Together, we will continue to strengthen India’s defense and capabilities as a counterterrorism partner, improve health systems and pandemic response, and deepen cooperation in areas such as education, space exploration and humanitarian aid, “he said.
“As the oldest and largest democracies in the world, the United States and India are united by our shared democratic values: free and fair elections, equality before the law, and freedom of speech and religion. These fundamental principles have endured in all of our nations. . ‘stories and will continue to be the source of our strength in the future, “he said.
Noting that the Obama-Biden administration continued to deepen the collaboration between India and the US on strategic, defense, economic, regional and global challenges, the policy document said that Biden was a strong advocate for the growth and expansion of the US-India partnership.
“Recognizing India’s increasingly important role on the world stage, the Obama-Biden administration formally declared United States support for India’s membership in a reformed and expanded United Nations Security Council by Congress to ensuring that when it comes to the advanced and sensitive technology that India needs to strengthen its military, India is treated on a par with our closest partners, “he said.
“President Obama and Vice President Biden also strengthened our cooperation with India to fight terrorism in each of our countries and throughout the region. Biden believes that there can be no tolerance for terrorism in cross-border South Asia or otherwise. A Biden administration will also work with India to support a stable and rules-based Indo-Pacific region where no country, including China, can threaten its neighbors with impunity, “his campaign said.
“The Obama-Biden Administration worked closely with India to ensure the successful signing of the Paris Climate Agreement to address the global climate crisis that threatens all of our peoples,” he said.
“A Biden administration would bring the United States back to the Paris Agreement, giving us the ability to once again work closely with India to fight climate change and work once again hand in hand to reduce our carbon emissions and secure our clean energy future, without which we cannot build the green economy we need, “he said.
In the 2006 interview, Biden, before assuming the chairmanship of the influential Senate Foreign Relations Committee, had argued that the relationship between India and the US is the most important relationship that the US should do good on its own. security.
“There are so many decades to get over, some mistrust, some suspicion. The truth of the matter is, despite the fact that President Bush followed (former President Bill) Clinton and moved closer, there is still a lot of skepticism about Bush. and its foreign policy capacity in India. So there is a lot to overcome, “he said.
“This is the most important development in my opinion, which has occurred in the last 20 years with respect to India and it is the foundation on which we can start to build …” he said.
