Biden-harris agenda talks tough on China, terrorism
nWASHINGTON: Joe Biden, the presumptive Democratic nominee for the US election, will work with India in the Indo-pacific region to ensure “no country, including China, is able to threaten its neighbours with impunity” and will have “no tolerance” for cross-border terrorism in South Asia, if elected president, his campaign said in an agenda released on Friday for relations with India and the welfare of Indian-americans.
The agenda for Biden, who recently named Kamala Harris as his running mate for the
November 3 election, says he “believes there can be no tolerance for terrorism in South Asia, cross-border or otherwise”. The reference was unmistakably to cross-border terrorism emanating from Pakistan.
On China, the Biden administration wants to ensure continuity. “A Biden administration will also work with India to support a rules-based and stable Indo-pacific region in which no country, including China, is able to threaten its neighbours with impunity,” the agenda says.
Also, the Biden-harris administration will place “high priority” on bolstering ties with New Delhi, continue to strengthen
India’s defence capabilities, and bring the US back into the Paris climate agreement.
On immigration, Biden will “preserve family unification as a core principle of our immigration system” and increase the number of visas offered for permanent, work-based immigration, that is, green cards - a pledge that counters US President Donald Trump’s decision to switch to a merit-based system.
Biden’s administration promises to exempt recent graduates of PHD programmes in STEM fields from any cap, basically eliminating the country limit on green cards. He also pledges to support reforming the temporary visa system for H-1BS in order to protect wages and workers.
The Biden-harris agenda is the first expansive plan released by any US presidential campaign when it comes to addressing Indian-americans and relations with New Delhi.
The agenda notes that as a senator, Biden had said in 2006, “My dream is that in 2020, the two closest nations in the world will be India and the United States”.
The agenda also vows the Biden administration will address rising incidents of hate crimes against “Indian-americans of all backgrounds”. In particular, he highlighted the importance of the National Research Foundation and the role of research and innovation for progress.
Besides thematic issues, the PM also underlined the role of various demographic segments, and steps being taken to boost their quality of life, employment prospects and incomes.
On labour, the PM said it was the source of progress and it flowers when obstacles are removed. In this regard, he outlined steps taken to improve lives of citizens — through bank accounts where money is transferred directly, construction of houses and toilets, provision of regular electricity, the availability of health insurance through Ayushman Bharat. “Everyone who is poor, without any discrimination, can benefit from these measures.” The PM said during the pandemic, these instruments had played a key role in enabling the welfare programmes of the government.
On migrant workers in particular — who had to bear tremendous hardship during the pandemic — the PM spoke of the government’s Garib Kalyan Rojgar Yojana for migrant workers who had returned home; their skilling; and the government’s plans to construct housing for them in cities where they work away from their homes to ensure they can remain productive without any worries.
On the middle class, which he categorised as India’s strength, the PM said that once it gets the right opportunities, it can do “miracles” and professionals from the middle class have made a place for themselves in the world. “The middle class wants liberation from government restrictions. It wants an open field.” He spoke of how the government’s steps — through low cost air connectivity, highways and information ways, cheaper home loans, a fund for stalled real estate projects to ensure middle class home buyers get their homes, reduction of taxes, bringing cooperative banks under the regulatory umbrella of the Reserve Bank of India to protect savings, reforms in micro, small and medium enterprises — will help the middle class.
On women, the PM said the country was committed to providing them equal opportunities. He spoke of how women today were working both in coal mines, below ground level, and flying fighter planes in the sky; the “freedom” Muslim women have got due to the triple talaq legislation; the enhanced maternity leave and benefits to pregnant women; the provision of direct income assistance in the bank accounts of women; and the provision of over 50 million sanitary napkins for women, at just ~1 each, through Jan Aushadi centres.
Besides substantive policy themes and demographic segments, the third pillar of the PM’S speech rested on balanced regional development. In this, he referred to the government’s initiatives in eastern India in particular, the development pathway in Kashmir, and the focus on 110 aspirational districts where socioeconomic indicators have been below the national average and which have received priority in recent years.