With swearing in of Joe Biden as new US President today, a new phase of world order and equations are likely to take place in coming days. Biden, as expected would either reverse or bring a shift in most of policy decisions in USA from dealing with the Covid pandemic, Trade, immigration laws, Trade, foreign and strategic relations etc
Biden has already announced his plans to unveil a sweeping immigration bill on Day One of his administration, hoping to provide an eight-year path to citizenship for an estimated 11 million people living in the country without legal status, a massive reversal from the Trump administration’s harsh immigration policies.
The legislation puts Biden on track to deliver on a major campaign promise important to Latino voters and other immigrant communities after four years of President Donald Trump’s restrictive \olicies and mass deportations.`
It provides one of the fastest pathways to citizenship for those living without legal status of any measure in recent years, but it fails to include the traditional trade-off of enhanced border security favoured by many Republicans, making passage in a narrowly divided Congress in doubt.
In the matter of relations with China and India, to be fair to Trump helped in spotlighting the threat a powerful China posed to the established global order. Neither Biden nor any of his successors can any longer ignore the threat China has come to pose, in both economic and military fields. Even in his relations with India, despite a public show of bonhomie with Modi, Trump was transactional, withdrawing preferential treatment for a number of Indian exports and insisting on further opening up for American goods and services.
The new president cannot, and will not restore status quo ante with China, but he will be more nuanced and measured in his dealings. Biden will keep the pressure on Xi and will have the western allies, already reeling under China’s economic muscle-flexing, to support him fully. India, as a pivotal power in Asia, is assured of the continued support of the new administration in Washington, especially due to the belated recognition by the strategic quarters in the US that India serves as a bulwark of freedom and democracy in this part of the world against China’s ambitious expansionist, militaristic goals.
Without joining any security alliance, without surrendering our neutrality vis-à-vis rival foreign powers, we can still cooperate and coordinate in security and strategic matters with the US and other democratic nations to safeguard our territorial integrity and sovereignty.
