Everything Trump is not

Former Special Secretary, Cabinet Secretariat

Bureaucracy is notorious for its inability to anticipate new situations as Lawrence J Peter (the Peter Principle) had said: ‘Bureaucracy defends the status quo long past the time when the quo has lost its status.’ This adage was proved by an incident in November 1992 when an Indian National Congress delegation suddenly arrived at Washington DC and asked our embassy to fix a meeting with President-elect Bill Clinton at Little Rock.

Should we not consider it a diplomatic lapse on India’s part that we did not care to brief Biden Campaign on Kashmir and the CAA if we have a valid case?

Our embassy had never thought of developing contacts with the President-elect’s group on a mistaken assessment of President George HW Bush’s sure re-election. Consequently, they had to search deep inside Arkansas to locate an Indian-American doctor to facilitate their meeting with Clinton.

In a similar manner, would the November elections cause surprise in New Delhi which had placed all their bets on Donald Trump’s re-election by arranging the huge Motera Rally in February 2020? Would Rajya Sabha member Subramanian Swamy, the self-styled clairvoyant on political matters, be right that Trump would again win through Electoral College votes, although he may lose popular votes to Democrat candidate Joe Biden? Swamy was discussing the elections on video with Rajiv Malhotra of Infinity Foundation in May. Malhotra said Biden would not favour India and Hindus.

Nevertheless, the present trends indicate that Trump may find it very difficult to secure a second term. Apart from his falling rating in public polls, the reluctance of senior Republican Senate leaders like Lamar Alexander (Ten), John Cornyan (Tex) and Marco Rubio (FL) in following his political argument even on wearing masks has been interpreted as breaking their ranks with him. Another factor is the uncertainty in holding the Republican National Convention in Florida, slated for August 24-27, due to the reluctance of local Republicans due to a huge spurt of Covid there. Trump had moved the event from North Carolina due to his annoyance with their social distancing policy.

Joseph Biden, the sixth youngest Senator in US history, was elected in 1972 when he was 29. By being in the Foreign Relations Committee for three decades, he knows more of international developments than any comparable US dignitary. His career graph indicates that he has devoted more time on arms control and human rights.

In 1979, he was deputed by the Senate to travel to Moscow to explain to Soviet foreign minister Andrei Gromyko the Senate’s objections to the SALT-II treaty signed by President Jimmy Carter and Leonid Brezhnev. In 1986, he was a vociferous spokesperson against South Africa’s Apartheid policy and advocated sanctions. Biden’s ‘fiery exchange’ with Secretary of State George Shultz in the Senate in 1986 over the administration’s reluctance was the hallmark of that debate.

In 1986, both houses of the Congress passed the Anti-Apartheid Act against South Africa, contrary to President Reagan’s wishes. This Bill was vetoed by Reagan. However, for the first time in the 20th century, a President’s veto was overridden by both houses on September 29, 1986. After this, many European countries and Japan imposed sanctions which plunged the South African economy into deep recession.

In 1991-92, Biden supported NATO strikes on Serbian targets for their rights violations in Bosnia. He visited the Balkans and met Serbian strongman Slobodan Milosevic. Later, he called him a ‘war criminal’. In 1999, Biden teamed up with Republican Senator, the late John McCain, to introduce a Senate resolution authorising Clinton to use force on Yugoslavia. In 2001, the US pressured the Yugoslav government to extradite Milosevic to stand trial for genocide at The Hague International Court of Justice for the forced deportation and murder of Albanians.

Thus, irrespective of whether India considers as ‘interference into internal matters’ or not, we may find Biden to be proactive on rights. The ‘Agenda for Muslim American Communities’ in his election platform promises ‘to restore America’s role and voice as a human rights champion on a global scale’. As President, during his first year in office, he has promised to host a global summit to fight corruption, countering authoritarianism and advancement of rights. Those who want to attend will have to make ‘tangible commitments’.

In the list of present rights violations, he mentions the detentions of Uyghur Muslims in China, atrocities against the Rohingya in Burma, and also Kashmir. He wants India to ‘restore rights for all the people of Kashmir’. He was also ‘disappointed’ by the measures taken by New Delhi in the ‘aftermath’ of the passage of the CAA. This is more or less the same language as the House of Representatives Resolution No. 745 introduced by Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal in 2019. At that time, our External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar had refused to meet the House Foreign Affairs Committee on the ground that Jayapal would be present. This was considered as improper in US Congressional circles. Also, should we not consider it a diplomatic lapse on our part that we did not care to brief Biden Ccampaign on Kashmir and the CAA if we have a valid case?

In May, Biden told American Bazaar, a prominent Indian American voice, that he had urged the US State Department to grant emergency refugee protection to persecuted Sikhs and Hindus in Afghanistan. This was not reported in our media which only carried American Hindus’ complaint that his ‘agenda’ did not mention them.

Biden also blasted Trump for ‘decimating America’s refugee policy’, for which as Senator, he had co-sponsored a legislation. He announced that as President, he would raise refugee admissions to 1.25 lakh from the present Trump’s quota of 18,000.