Biden: Will stand by India to counter border threat

Sandeep Dikshit
Tribune News Service
New Delhi, August 16

US presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden has said if elected, his administration will stand with India to counter any threat it may face in the region or along its borders.

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Biden also backed India’s no-tolerance approach to cross-border terrorism and pledged to rescind the “harmful policy” of placing restrictions on the movement of skilled persons from India by removing caps on STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) graduates. He said he would take steps to reform the H-1B visa system, work towards eliminating the country-quota for Green Cards and ensure prompt issuance of religious worker visas from reputed organisations. Biden made the declaration while appearing with his vice-presidential pick Kamala Harris and several aides, including three — Richard Verma, Jake Sullivan and Tony Blinken — tipped for weighty positions, in an hour-long webinar on India’s Independence Day.

In a three-minute video, he introduced Harris as a “dear friend, smart, tested and prepared,” adding that “it’s your story too”. Harris recalled that she had picked up values from her mother Shyamala, who instilled in her the obligation to do something for society. “That’s how she marched and shouted during the civil rights movement, inspired by Martin Luther King, who was in turn inspired by Gandhi. There she met my father. And the rest is history.” 

Harris recalled how her mother frequently took her and her sister Maya back to Madras “so that we understood where we came from and wanted to instil in us love for good idly”.

Though the focus was on Biden’s brief observations on India’s security imperatives, both he and Harris tried to broaden their appeal to the entire South Asian diaspora. Harris specifically called for South Asians to stand together as they had the common experience of suffering from colonialism and discrimination.

During the bulk of the address, Biden, Harris and their aides spoke on more existential issues for the coloured community, including stemming the tide of hate and bigotry, addressing the security needs of their houses of worship, streamlining the processing for religious worker visas and eliminating language barriers for the Indian-American community.

But Biden also reminded the Indian-Americans that he had been advocating strong friendship with India since his days as Senator. “Our government will reflect the diversity of the United States, and Indian-American voices will be included in shaping the policies that impact their communities,” he promised.