By: Dr. Satyavan Saurabh
Joe Baden has far fewer challenges than Barack Obama. His goal will be to meet the shortcomings of the last four years. Emphasis on Indo-Pacific relations, activism in international institutions, dialogue on climate and environmental issues and taking along all Americans will be the major areas in front of him. Democratic Joe has finally replaced the Trump administration, with Biden sworn in as the 46th President of the United States. New Delhi will keep a close watch on Washington for the next few weeks to understand how India-US relations take shape.
America’s newly-elected President Joe Biden has been sworn in as the 46th President. The new President has many opportunities and challenges before him. Biden became the 46th President of the country after defeating Donald Trump in the US presidential elections during the Corona virus pandemic. Joe Biden has said that the current crisis is big and difficult and America can’t waste any more time. “Whatever you want to do, you have to do it immediately”. But the Biden government also realizes that the way to achieve the goal of the new government is not so easy.
Given the strength of the Republican Party in comparison to the Democrats in the lower house of the US Parliament, the House of Representatives, and the Senate, it will be an important question for Joe Biden of the Democrat Party to fully implement his domestic agendas. Within the first few days of assuming office, Biden spoke of taking decisive steps towards resolving four critical crises related to the Corona pandemic, the unaided American economy, climate change and racial discrimination. Recently, Joe Biden has also launched a new relief package of $ 1.9 trillion to give a boost to the economy. This package is named American Rescue Plan.
The Biden administration has laid out a concrete plan to accelerate covid vaccination as promised by him. Besides the Paris Climate Accord, he will again sign several important orders including the re-joining of the US and the removal of restrictions on the entry of people from certain Muslim-majority countries. Bringing law to clarify the situation regarding the citizenship of 1.1 crore people living illegally in the country is also on the agenda of the Biden government. Only time will tell what will be the plans of the new American President Joe Biden and what efforts will be employed to implement them.
After winning a close election, President-Elect Joe Biden will now have to concentrate on operating a deeply divided nation with a struggling economy and a plethora of issues, both at domestic as well as internal levels. For the new liberal Democratic president, he has to hope for success in finding a common ground with conservative Republicans while maintaining the support of the progressives in their party.
Despite President Trump’s non-fact-based claim that the election was rigged, all states have validated their data and voted Joe Biden as the 46th president of the United States. However, his administration will face an upheaval, as a majority in the Senate will be decided at the run-off in Georgia in January. Whichever option you choose in your cabinet, it will be necessary to be experienced, well versed in the government, sensible of challenges. Four years ago, President Trump used his inaugural address to say he promised to end the ‘American genocide’.
Joe Biden appeared in the same place after winning the presidential election. The bloodshed on 6 January meant no peaceful transfer of power in the hands of the 45th to 46th President. A Washington Post-ABC News poll found that Biden entered office with 49 percent of Americans who would make the right decision for the nation’s future. Well, this represents a lot more confidence than Trump’s 38 percentage points four years ago, but far less than the 61 percent who expressed confidence in Barack Obama’s decisions in 2009.
The Biden administration has given a strong preview to Indo-US relations to strong officials like Secretary of State Anthony Blinken and Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin. Biden himself has been a vocal supporter of friendly relations with India and has been a familiar face in New Delhi since his days as Vice President under the leadership of President Barack Obama. Recently endorsing US President Donald Trump’s outgoing India policy, Blinken said that India has consistently been a “bipartisan success story” of the US administration.
The writer is a poet, freelance journalist and columnist, All India Radio and TV panelist
