President-elect Joe Biden has selected Antony Blinken, a veteran diplomat and an Obama administration alumnus, to lead the US State Department. Blinken, who served as Deputy Secretary of State and as deputy national security adviser in the Obama administration, is one of Biden's closest and longest-serving foreign policy advisers. The announcement on Blinken's appointment was expected on Tuesday.
A long-time ally of Biden, Blinken was the staff director for Biden while he was chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. He played a prominent role in the Biden campaign and was his key policy advisors on foreign affairs.
The next Secretary of State will also have a considerable impact on India as top US diplomat. Recently, the Trump administration and Secretary Mike Pompeo have been vocal about the US support to India against China.
It is worth discussion what Blinken's views on India are. Let's take a look:
Blinken has been critical of the Trump administration and especially his foreign policy towards China and India. Blinken has raised concerns over China's aggression towards India across the Line of Actual Control (LAC). The panel discussion was moderated by Richa Verma, former US Envoy to India where Bilken adds that the to-be Biden administration would help India to get a permanent seat at the United Nations Security Council (UNSC).
Statements by Bilken suggest that India's relations with the US are likely to stay strong, perhaps stronger as both India and the US have a “common challenge which has to deal with an increasingly assertive China across the board, including its aggression towards India at the Line of Actual Control but also using economic might to coerce others and reap unfair advantage. Ignoring international rules to advance its own interests asserting unfound maritime and territorial claims that threaten freedom of navigation in some of the most important seas of the world”.
