Biden administration’s response will haunt US-India ties

The world is facing an unprecedented crisis. When other parts were facing an acute health challenge, the so-called Hindu nationalist government in India stepped up to the plate. New Delhi reached out to all those who needed help and despite its own challenges, rose to the occasion in helping others who perhaps were in need of more support. Notwithstanding domestic critics and political backlash at home, the ‘hyper nationalistic’ Modi government opened its purse strings and hearts for others. With South Africa, it even worked at the WTO for the dilution of intellectual property rules in tackling COVID-19, only to be opposed by the richest and the most powerful. And now we have a so-called ‘progressive’ liberal administration in the US, eulogized by the liberal media and intelligentsia, which is struggling to even empathize with Indian concerns. This is the time when Indians need help – help in managing the pandemic, in the vaccination process, and in enhancing national capacities to fight the menace of this viral outbreak more effectively.