The US Electoral College decisively confirmed Joe Biden on Monday as the nation’s next president, ratifying his November victory in an authoritative state-by-state repudiation of President Donald Trump’s refusal to concede he had lost.
Joe Biden will be sworn in as the 46th president of the United States on January 20. This presents another opportunity to look ahead to Biden administration policy — namely the U.S. polices for the subcontinent, especially Pakistan.
Meanwhile, peace and stability in South Asia seem to affect the entire continent in particular and the global community in general. Let’s take an in-depth review of the various aspects of Biden’s success in the context of South Asia.
US Electoral College
The presidential electors gave Biden a solid majority of 306 electoral votes to Trump’s 232, the same margin that Trump bragged was a landslide when he won the White House four years ago.
President-elect Joe Biden delivered a rebuke to President Donald Trump’s attacks on the legitimacy of his victory, hours after winning the state-by-state Electoral College vote that officially determines the US presidency.
“In this battle for the soul of America, democracy prevailed. Now it’s time to turn the page, as we’ve done throughout our history – to unite, to heal,” Biden said.
California, the most-populous US state, put Biden over the 270 votes needed to win the Electoral College when its 55 electors unanimously cast ballots for him and his running mate, Kamala Harris.
Trump vs Biden
Trump’s approaches weren’t much different from traditional US policies: on China, North Korea, India, Pakistan, the Middle East, Iran (tougher), Israel (friendlier) and Afghanistan. Where Trump diverged sharply was on climate change, promotion of liberal values and rights and treatment of allies, especially Nato allies.
To put it differently, when Biden begins his term, he will change the course on issues where Trump diverged from standard neoliberal policies, while tweaking those where Trump sailed closer to the bipartisan consensus.
Biden is likely to ease up on Iran, while sticking to the fundamentals of the US’ approach to Iran, which sees Tehran as a troublemaker in the Greater Middle East and a threat to Israel. Similarly, Biden has constantly declared “an ironclad commitment to Israel’s security”, and it will be very unlikely that he could reverse Trump’s decision to declare Jerusalem as Israel’s capital.
Biden has talked about ending the support for the Saudi-led war in Yemen. However, it is unlikely that he could move away from Saudi Arabia. On China, he has talked about mustering the support of the allies, which Trump kneecapped, to counter the China threat. Not much is going to change on that count.
Biden and India
Indian leaders across the political spectrum have welcomed Biden’s election, with Modi tweeting congratulations on Biden’s “spectacular victory” and emphasizing his past contributions to bilateral relations.
Biden’s policies toward China and Pakistan could disrupt India’s current strategy. Biden’s approach to U.S.-India trade disputes is unclear. India seeks reinstatement of its privileged access as a developing country to the U.S. market. Trump abolished this benefit and Biden may not restore it.
Moreover, U.S. and Indian visions of global order have important differences and there could be as many opportunities for irritations as cooperation, including in multilateral institutions where both partners interact.
Biden and Pakistan
Unlike his predecessor, Donald Trump, who pursued what he called an “America First” foreign policy, Biden is expected to have a more traditional approach to foreign affairs and focused on restoring Washington’s international standing and alliances.
Biden’s win will present Pakistan with opportunities to strengthen its strategic and economic ties with the US. Unlike Trump, Biden knows Pakistan. He travelled to the country several times as vice president. He was one of the principal architects, along with Senator John Kerry of the Kerry-Lugar Berman Act of 2009 that paved the way for the US providing annual civilian assistance of $1.5bn to Pakistan between 2010 and 2014.
Biden is more humane, has greater knowledge of subcontinent, Kashmir included because he was twice vice president and could secure substantial knowledge about India-Pakistan.
