President Joe Biden arrives in India on Friday for a two-day summit at a moment of division among the world’s leading economies.
Biden isn’t aiming to paper over the fractures during his time in New Delhi. But with an eye toward countering China, he does hope to convince a splintered world the United States remains a committed and valuable partner.
He arrives as polling in the United States shows strong headwinds in his bid for reelection; a CNN survey released the day of his departure showed two-thirds of Democrat-leaning voters don’t want Biden as the 2024 nominee.
Biden’s advisers believe his activities on the global stage can help provide a contrast with Republicans, and his campaign released a television ad Thursday highlighting his visit to Ukraine earlier this year.
But Biden’s shaky political standing has nonetheless left fellow leaders, particularly in Europe, wondering what the next year will portend and whether Biden’s pledges of a robust US role in the world will be sustained.
In New Delhi, Biden is hoping to make the argument that the United States can act as a better partner for developing countries than China. He has an unexpected opening to make his case: Chinese President Xi Jinping is skipping this weekend’s summit, his first time missing a G20 since taking office in 2012.
While that is a lost opportunity in some ways – Biden and Xi met for hours at last year’s G20 in Bali – it also frees the stage for the US to make its argument for American partnerships.
At a moment when the very fragile state of China’s economy is causing deep concern about global ripple effects, Biden hopes to use the relative strength of the American market to make his pitch.
He isn’t arriving empty handed. He comes armed with proposals to reform and step up investments in the World Bank, leveraging US funds…
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