Joe Biden promises to stand with India, to support family visa policy
Joe Biden, the presumptive Democratic nominee for the presidential elections in the US later this year, has said he will look to strengthen ties with India if he were to occupy the White House.
Joe Biden, the presumptive Democratic nominee for the presidential elections in the US later this year, has said he will look to strengthen ties with India if he were to occupy the White House.
He will stand with India in “confronting new threats it faces along its border”, he said in a message on India’s 74th Independence Day on Saturday.
The 77-year-old’s campaign also said that he would scrap the country quota for green cards by ushering in reforms in the H1-B visa system if he were to be elected as president in the elections slated to be held on November 3.
Biden, who was the vice-president between 2009 and 2017 under Barack Obama, said he had worked to get the nuclear deal with India passed as a senator about 15 years ago. He wanted to “deepen” the bonds “between our nations and our people”, he said.
“As president, I’ll also continue to rely on the Indian American diaspora, that keeps our two nations together, as I have throughout my career,” he said.
He said he will also work towards increasing trade between the two nations.
Biden, who recently announced Kamala Harris as his running mate, termed her mother’s tale as an immigrant to the US as “inspiring”.
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He said his “heart goes out” to all those affected by the “sudden and harmful actions on H-1B visas”.
His campaign said it will support a family-based immigration system if he is voted to the Oval office.
Biden is said to be well placed in the presidential race with polls giving him a lead over President Donald Trump. According to the latest NPR/PBS/Newshour/Marist poll, he stands at 53% against Trump’s 42% nationally among registered voters. A Fox News poll said he is ahead of Trump by 7 points.