USA’s Secretary Antony Blinken has an Indian connection

USA’s newly elected Secretary of State Mr. Blinken talks about future relations with India

President-elect Joe Biden has appointed Antony 'Tony' Blinken as the next Secretary of State of the United States. Blinken, a former hand of the Ministry of State, has been a Foreign Policy Chief for more than a decade. He was a former National Security Adviser to the Vice President when Biden was a citizen of the US Naval Observatory. Blinken had previously served as the Director of staff of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee when Biden chaired it. Later, Blinken served as deputy secretary under John Kerry. Blinken began his career as a foreign speaker for President Bill Clinton in the mid-1990s. Blinken's father was Hungarian Ambassador. 

As a long-term foreign policy adviser to Biden, Blinken also helped shape Biden's views on  Middle East, China, Europe, Iran and India. He helped navigate the empty waters of the Senate when the Indo-US nuclear deal was ratified there. It was very important because while there was joint support for the contracts of this agreement, it had to be passed even though it was opposed to democracy on the left.

Blinken, earlier this summer, had spoken at the Hudson Institute when asked how he viewed relations with India. "I think from the point of view of Deputy President Biden, strengthening and strengthening relations with India will be very important. It’s usually important for the future of the Indo-Pacific and the kind of order we all want; it is right, stable, and hopefully democratic and it is important to be able to meet some of these great global challenges. "

Blinken had also mentioned in the speech how much Vice President Biden had played a role in including India in the Paris Climate agreement because without India and China, the agreement itself would have meant nothing.“We then work hard to persuade India to become more prosperous and secure if it is signed to the Paris Agreement. We succeeded. It was not easy. It was for all the reasons you listed. It was a difficult effort but Deputy President Biden was one of the leaders in the effort to convince our partners in India and they did. I think that shows, again, the fact that we cannot solve common global challenges without India as part of the agreement, ”Blinken further added.

One of the priorities for Biden's new administration will be to join international agreements and commitments with the organizations that the Trump administration has ousted from the United States. Most notably, the top three on the list could be the Paris Climate Accord, the World Health Organization and the JCPOA and Iran.

However Blinken also offered insight that relations with India would not be all milk and honey. He will also be forced to raise negative domestic issues with India, albeit privately. "Obviously we have issues now and real concerns, for example, about some of the steps the government has taken especially in the fight against freedom of movement and freedom of speech in Kashmir, some of the laws of citizenship, but always better engage with your partner and most importantly like India. ”

Obviously the South African mandarins would like to negotiate with the next country secretary so that both sides can get off to a good start.