President Biden Won’t Be Benign on India’s Human Rights Situation

On January 20, Joe Biden will succeed Donald Trump as president of the United States. As that moment approaches, one big question on the minds of many Indians – liberal and conservative alike – is not about immigration or defense deals, but about the president-elect’s approach to human rights concerns abroad. After four years of Trump’s self-centered and transactional foreign policy, will a Biden administration speak up on issues such as the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) or restrictions in Kashmir?

The popular wisdom among most analysts is that Biden won’t change much: His administration will be more focused on domestic concerns, the India-U.S. partnership has taken on a life of its own, and the common threat from China is strong enough to warrant silence. Biden is not Bernie Sanders or Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, many argue; he is far more centrist and pragmatic.

Yet, in the days leading up to Biden’s victory, the situation trended the other way and domestic politics might ironically end up as the cause for more foreign policy activism, not an excuse for distraction.

A few weeks before the election, Biden began floating the idea of a “global summit for democracy.” Its aim was “to renew the spirit and shared purpose of the nations of the free world.” In a policy document, Biden’s campaign said that the president-elect would work to hold such a summit in his first year in office. The plan is to bring together not just governments, but also civil society organizations and private sector firms in the technology space to work out commitments on human rights, corruption, and the rise of authoritarianism.

Much of the impetus for this framework comes from Trump’s aggressive repudiation of American democratic values, both at home and abroad. The Democrats campaigned on the idea that American democracy was at stake and needed to be preserved. That means preventing another surge of right-wing populism, both at home and abroad. As the Biden campaign put it, “Donald Trump’s erratic policies and failure to uphold basic democratic principles have surrendered our position in the world.”

Owing precisely to its key role in countering China (and its ties with Russia), India is going to be an important player in Biden’s framework and will likely be invited to participate in his global democracy summit. That would mean a direct spotlight on the rise of right-wing populism in India, including the several controversial laws and policies passed in recent times.

As Biden comes to power early next year, he will also be acutely aware of the fact that he has a divided Democratic Party behind him. In the last few years, the Democrats have split into broadly two camps – one led by the progressives, such as Sanders and Ocasio-Cortez, and the other led by centrists like Biden. The goal of defeating Trump was important enough for the two groups to put their differences aside for the election, but many progressive leaders in the Democratic ranks are wary that Biden may not be different enough from Trump on more sensitive progressive concerns.

Owing to their popularity among younger voters, progressive Democrats are beginning to more prominently influence their party’s political narrative. That may also manifest itself in more foreign policy activism under the new administration.

There has already been much evidence of this: Despite the limited role that Indian affairs played in the U.S. presidential election, the crackdown in Kashmir and the riots in Delhi elicited powerful responses from many Democratic politicians, including Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal, Congressman Ro Khanna, and also both Sanders and Ocasio-Cortez. Ocasio-Cortez even called out Trump’s transactional foreign policy, saying, “We must not enable this rise in sectarian violence.”

None of this is to say that the Biden administration is going to come out swinging at New Delhi on day one, attacking it for the CAA, the Delhi riots, or the restrictions in Kashmir. It’s more likely that India will remain far outside the spotlight and past events will be allowed to be forgotten. Both Biden and his vice president, Kamala Harris, will be keen to pursue a fresh start, following run-ins several months ago with Indian Foreign Minister S. Jaishankar and Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s perceived endorsement of Trump.

All that said, any major human rights violations in India going forward – say, another communal riot or another controversial law – will be very likely to attract attention in Washington and even possible censure, spilling over into policy proposals.

Biden will be under pressure from within his own party to prove that he is not just a milder and more personable version of Donald Trump. That means that President Biden could be more vocal in foreign policy activism than Vice President Biden was.