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Jan 21, 2021

Watch: 'As US President, Joe Biden Will Raise Concerns the Modi Govt Won't Like But Will Do So Quietly'

Meenakshi Ahamed says Biden’s India policy will be mainly determined by his secretary of state Antony Blinken.

The author of a recently published comprehensive study of India-US relations over a 70-year period from President Harry S. Truman to President Donald Trump – A Matter of Trust – says that as US vice president, Kamala Harris’s role in determining President Joe Biden’s India policy will be “peripheral”.

Meenakshi Ahamed says that Harris was chosen as Biden’s running mate primarily because she is half Black. It is, therefore, her role in attracting and cementing Black support to the Biden presidency that is and will be her major contribution to the incoming administration. Biden’s India policy will be mainly determined by his secretary of state Antony Blinken, who knows India well and has visited the country when he was President Barack Obama’s deputy secretary of state.

In a 33-minute interview to Karan Thapar for The Wire, Ahamed said that Harris’s presence as vice president will normalise and mainstream the role of Indian-Americans in US public life. No longer will it be seen as exotic or as representation for a minority community but as a full-fledged part of mainstream US politics.

Ahamed told The Wire that the Indian diaspora in the US will play a heightened and very important role in the Biden administration. On the one hand, at least 20 people of Indian origin will be part of Biden’s administration of whom 17 will be directly involved in the White House. On the other hand, 60% of Indians in the US are India-born and have close emotional and family links with India. This combination will ensure that Indian concerns and interests remain at the forefront of the Biden White House.

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