Finally Joe Biden elected US President, Kamala Harris will be first Black and Indian/South Asian vice president

Contrary to what is suggested in many anti-Narendra Modi quarters, Joe Biden has been a strong advocate of deepening US ties with India, even before and during his stint as Vice President in the Obama administration.

Congratulations

@JoeBiden

on your spectacular victory! As the VP, your contribution to strengthening Indo-US relations was critical and invaluable. I look forward to working closely together once again to take India-US relations to greater heights.

Joe Biden will announce a 12-person coronavirus-task force on Monday, two sources with knowledge tell CNN. The announcement is meant to signify how seriously the president-elect plans to focus on a pandemic that has reached a record number of daily infections in world's most powerful nation.

The task force will be headed by three co chairs: former surgeon general Vivek Murthy, former Food and Drug Administration commissioner David Kessler and Yale University's Dr. Marcella Nunez-Smith. The additional members are due to be announced on Monday.

The priority of the task force announcement underscores the urgency of the pandemic and Biden's intention to try and return the nation's attention to the virus. The group, along with Biden and Harris, plan to hold frequent televised briefings on the crisis, aides say.

(CNN reports say) 

On Friday, there were 126,480 daily new cases, per Johns Hopkins University data, the third straight day where the nation has surpassed 100,000 new cases and the highest day of reporting since the pandemic began.

Notably, Donald Trump had diminished the importance of the virus and often complained that it was taking up too much focus on the campaign trail -- even after he contracted it himself.

Despite Trump's comments that the virus would go away quickly and that the country was "rounding the corner," the pandemic has escalated.

Former US President Barack Obama said:

“We’re fortunate that Joe’s got what it takes to be President and already carries himself that way," former President Barack Obama said in a statement congratulating Joe Biden.

"When he walks into the White House in January, he’ll face a series of extraordinary challenges no incoming President ever has – a raging pandemic, an unequal economy and justice system, a democracy at risk, and a climate in peril,”  Obama said in a statement also seen making a veiled attack on the outgoing President Trump.

Few questions and issues at stake!

 What do US election results signify globally?

- How much difference Asians made in the US polls 2020 and how the final outcome would impact

  their fate?

-- How would US relations figure out with 'neo US rivals' China and countries like India and also

how would the US handle diplomatic tussle like trade with China or matters concerning Indo Pacific

and even US handling of Taliban/Afghanistan and Russia and the region?

“With #Trump’s fall, the wave of hate and intolerance will end not only in #America but also across the world. USA is moving towards ending one of the fiercest waves of hate in modern history,” civil rights activist and Nobel laureate Tawakkol Karman tweeted long before the results came in.

Modi woos Democrats - after his 'Trump sarkar' sloganeering at Houston!!

In a post congratulating Kamala Harris, the Prime Minister said: “Your success is pathbreaking, and a matter of immense pride not just for your chittis, but also for all Indian-Americans. I am confident that the vibrant India-US ties will get even stronger with your support and leadership.”

On Sept 22, 2019, Modi had given a tactical but 'controversial' support to the candidature of Trump by his utterance - 'Abki Baar, Trump Sarkar'.

The slogan 'Abki Baar Trump Sarkar' was coined in 2016 by the Republican Hindu Coalition, which supported Trump and campaigned for him among the Indian-Americans.

Howdy Modi: And Trump Sept 2019

Will the Biden administration 'return' to the World Health Organization ???

Joe Biden says he's prepared to rejoin another international accord abandoned by President Trump - the deal that gave Iran sanctions relief in exchange for scaling down its nuclear programme. 

The Trump administration withdrew in 2018, saying the arms control agreement was too narrow to cope with the threats posed by Iran, and too weak in its limits on nuclear activity, which expire over time.  It re-imposed sanctions and continues to pile on economic pressure, recently blacklisting almost all of Iran's financial sector. In response Iran has stopped observing some of the restrictions on its nuclear activity. (BBC) 

Kamala Harris factor ?

Some sections of the media said before the polls that the nomination of Kamala Harris, whose mother is a migrant Indian, as the Democrats' vice president candidate could sway substantial votes of Asian Americans against Republican President Donald Trump. Of course, social media discussion presented Harris' nomination as Joe Biden's running mate as the "blossoming of the American lotus," giving it a pro-Hindu tint.

The name Kamala in Sanskrit means lotus. Paradoxically, the lotus is also the electoral symbol of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's pro-Hindu Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

Does discussion on the 'blossoming' of the American lotus really make much sense? Does it only show the eagerness of a politically motivated section in India to connect every success in the world with their party ?

Highlights of remarks from President elect Joe Biden and Kamala Harris, Vice President elect

"Spread the faith...."says president elect Joe Biden.

I can define America in one word - 'possibilities': says #JOEBIDEN2020 

I am a proud Democrat but I will work as an American President: #JoeBiden

Let's give other a chance, says Joe Biden, quotes Bible and says this is the "time to heal".

We will make America respected again: Joe Biden

The work ahead will not be easy but America is ready.....: Kamala Harris

While I may be the first woman in the office of Vice President ...but I will not be the last: #KamalaHarris

#KamalaHarris remembers her mom in victory speech...The great #Indian connection