In a reference to its strained relations with China, President Joe Biden on Tuesday told the United Nations General Assembly that United States does not seek a "new Cold War".
"The United States is ready to work with any nation that steps up and pursues peaceful resolution to share challenges even if we have intense disagreement in other areas," Biden told world leaders in New York.
"The US remains committed to preventing Iran from gaining nuclear weapon. We seek serious and sustained diplomacy to pursue complete demilitarisation of the Korean peninsula," he added.
Speaking about the ongoing Afghanistan crisis, Biden said, "We are facing the threat of terrorism today, we have ended 20 years of conflict in Afghanistan & as we close this war, we are opening doors of diplomacy. No matter how challenging problems we face, the US will deliver the best."
Biden said US isn't the same country, it was 20 years ago. "Today we are better equipped and more resilient, countering the propaganda," he said. "We know the bitter sting of terrorism. Last month, we lost 13 American heroes and many Afghan civilians in the heinous terrorist attack at Kabul airport. Those who commit acts of terrorism against us will find a determined enemy in the United States," he added.
Biden said the UNSC adopted a resolution outlining how to support people of Afghanistan and laid out the expectations from the Taliban. "We all must advocate the rights of women, girls to pursue their dreams free of violence and intimidation," he added. "The future belongs to those who give their people the ability to breathe free, not those who seek to suffocate their people with 'iron hands'," he further said.
President Biden also spoke on the COVID-19 pandemic. He said, "Arms can't defend Covid -19 or future variants, collective science & political will, can. We need to act now, expand access to treatment to save lives around the world. For future, we need need to create a new mechanism to finance global health security."
In his first address before the U.N. General Assembly , Biden said that the world stands and at an "inflection point in history" and must move quickly and cooperatively to address the festering issues of the COVID-19 pandemic, climate change and human rights abuse.
