ANALYSIS – Despite President Biden’s oft-stated vow to ‘rebuild relations’ with allies supposedly ‘frayed’ by former President Trump, Biden’s first actions in time of crisis was to shun helping one of the most significant allies Trump actually deepened ties with – India. As India’s COVID-19 number skyrocketed recently into a tragic crisis, Biden ignored pleas to send COVID vaccine help to our beleaguered Asian ally, severely harming relations with India.
Finally, two days ago, under extreme pressure, and in an abrupt reversal, Team Biden announced it would help.
Earlier, on 23 April Indian media reported that US State Department spokesperson Ned Price said the US would not lift the ban on raw materials to produce Covid vaccines because it is “not only in our interest to see Americans vaccinated, it’s in the interests of the rest of the world to see Americans vaccinated.”
This sounded to the Indians like Biden was saying – ‘America First.’ The problem isn’t ‘America First’ though, it is that the U.S. has tens of millions of doses of COVID vaccines it cant use.
This created severe resentment in India, which under Trump had ramped up its integration with the anti-China pact, the QUAD (U.S., Japan, Australia, and India), and I was flooded with pleas from Indians to write about it so Biden would help.
It also provoked outrage from supporters inside the U.S.:
The Biden administration is losing any goodwill it gained in the last few months, Tanvi Madan from the Brookings Institute said one tweet.
Indian public has now seen tweets from Pakistani PM & Iranian FM; had offers of help from Russia & China — i.e. even a country it has had hostilities with. It has not heard from any senior US officials. The Biden administration is losing any goodwill it gained in the last few months w Indians.
In another tweet, she showed a former Indian Army Chief noting this as a lesson about how unreliable the U.S. is as a partner.
Want to know how this last week spills over into perceptions of the US in the India, even strategically?
India’s former army chief…
(can argue that US regs weren’t directed vs India or that reliability concerns always existed, sure, but they just got a new burst of life) pic.twitter.com/O5JiQ93lwU
— Tanvi Madan (@tanvi_madan) April 26, 2021
As Biden dithered, public health experts and doctors urged the Biden administration to do much more in assisting India. In particular, noted Business Insider, they urged the Biden administration to relax restrictions on exporting raw materials needed for vaccines and to donate doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine, which is not authorized in the US.
According to India’s Business Standard, Indian-American Congressman Raja Krishnamoorthi urged the Biden administration to release doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine to countries currently experiencing the deadly surge in COVID-19 cases.
“When people in India and elsewhere desperately need help, we can’t let vaccines sit in a warehouse, we need to get them where they’ll save lives,” he said. “We are currently sitting on close to 40 million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine in the US stockpile, a stockpile which we’re not using and which we’ve already opened to combat COVID-19 in Mexico and Canada,” he said.
Business Insider quoted Dr. Craig Spencer, an assistant professor of emergency medicine at Columbia University’s medical center as saying:
We need to get these doses donated to countries where supply is limited. Immediately. They do absolutely no good to anyone just sitting on a shelf. Donating money isn’t enough. Committing to future initiatives isn’t either.”
On Monday, April 26, Biden finally told Prime Minister Narendra Modi that the United States will provide “oxygen-related supplies, vaccine materials, and therapeutics,” according to a readout from the White House on the call, reported by the Washington Post. CNN reported a longer list of specific pledged U.S. assistance.
But the lesson here is that Biden, who unfairly bashed Trump about ‘fraying’ relations with allies, such as ‘delinquent’Germany, just frayed ties with one of the most important U.S. allies in the fight with China, over life-saving COVID help.
The demonazis will not help anyone if it does not benefit them. To the world stage, remember this when dealing with America, if democrats are in charge you get nothing with out a high charge from the fascist left.
When America gave a stolen election to a Lying Horse-faced Pony soldier to be president…America got what it deserves
You’re right…we deserve it, but those in India shouldn’t be punished because we screwed up. I hope they can be patient. We plan to fix this as soon as possible, and in the meantime some help is on the way, and we deeply regret the poor response from our present non-leadership.
Evaluating allies is a difficult exercise but in terms of commitment, India would seem to come before Canada and Mexico.
very possible that India doesn’t give KICKBACKS to byden’s group of communists.
Mr. Modi……..B E W A R E……..
This guy is what, One would call….THE LOCAL VILLAGE IDIOT……….
He is not only INSANE…He is DEMENTED & an ‘epitome’ of IDIOCITY…..
Mr. Modi, you should not even waste your time, talking to him…..He is just A PASSING SHOWER…. PERIOD. a product of corruption……
but look who is actually pulling the strings Biden was chosen because he is easily fooled and controlled
Biden makes those poor choices, by not helping India. Doesn’t mean the whole USA is not willing to help. We Patriots just don’t have any control to make the COVID-19 vaccine available. We the people are very heart broken to know that your country is experiencing hardships because lack of assistance from the Biden administration. Our heart goes out with prayers to our neighbors in India. God bless you all.
Ol’ Joe is trying hard to be tough but can’t seem to figure out who he should be tough with. Four years of ol’ Joe will leave us friendless in this new world of ours.
more likely six months will do it…
The Democrats treat Americans the same way if their not liberal socialists, but instead are conservative Christians, they hate American patriots even more than they hate India, a country that became a better ally to the USA under President Trump.
Biden’s policies and actions have clearly highlighted the fundamental operational principle of the U.S. Government – Buy friendship and loyalty, domestically and overseas, through bribery, financial assistance, and toe-the line if you need us to help you.
The world would have been wiser with Biden’s dealings with Ukraine during the Obama administration – using foreign aid as a bribe to get the Attorney General of Ukraine fired for one billion dollar in loan guarantee. Ukraine should have maintained its dignity and told Biden to “TAKE A HIKE’.
INDIA SHOULD DO THE SAME AND MAINTAIN ITS DIGNITY.
Was Joe asleep in the basement again when one of our allies needed our help?
LISTEN UP…The U.S Should HELP INDIA. T HEY are FRIENDS. INDIA Also Needs HELP Protect ing SOME of Their LAND from CHINA. From SamuraiQueen. 😄😄😄
Biden should be impeached and then put on trial for his many crimes against America—GITMO is too good for him
the babbling idiot is not in control of anything calls must be to the Soros group that is pulling bidet’s strings.
When Donald Trump stopped all travel in and out of China he was labeled a Racist, but now it is in the interest of National Security to ban all travel in and out of India, amazing.
People in India are dying and all Bill Gates and his friends in Big Pharma are concerned with is their profits
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kZ5DavuOkcM&t=132s
The key point here is of course Biden wants to hurt India BECAUSE China wants to hurt India and they pulled his strings. China owns Biden.