By Shazia Cheema
Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi in his statement over the new US administration said that the US administration has a clear stance about the protection of human rights and US President- Joe Biden had a clear perspective about the South Asian region.
Foreign Minister also added that Pakistan had a chance to work with many in the past who had been indicted in Biden team and Pakistan had an understanding with these team members.
It will be a bold statement if someone says that the Joe Biden government put Pakistan in a favorable position. Such a mindset could lead our foreign policy to the wrong dimension. Being overconfident in our foreign diplomacy just because the Trump administration has gone could be a hasty move. Trump’s government projected the least bothered attitude regarding South Asia, including no war policy. Joe Biden is a predecessor of Barak Obama who also did not do worth for Pakistan and Kashmir whenever the situation arose in past. His tilt towards India was not far different than of Trump and that’s why we must be ready to face similar circumstances.
South Asians migrated to the Americas and flourished got prosperous to the extent that now they are part of the power corridors of America
Belonging is a unique phenomenon to which all living beings adhere equally. Animal plants and humans all cherish this phenomenon. Displacement from natural habitats can destroy the entire life cycle. Living beings communicate with each other via semiotic cues, one missing cue can create miscommunication. Plants animals, co-exists in certain habitat and removal of one or more species from that natural habitat disrupt their life. Homo sapiens are the only living organism who can adapt and adopt that’s why they can migrate from their original habitat. Even then linkage to their ancestral place is considered to be deep enough to the genome level. That’s why it is a hard decision and takes an extreme cognitive load to consider. Later nostalgia and fairytale-like obsession toward the original habitat.
It is a triumph for South Asia that almost twenty-five Indian descents are on the key positions in the white house in the Joe Biden administration
Migration is always considered a last resort for a better life and a secure and prosperous future. Immigrants mostly from Europe find refuge in vast land named Americas, settlers later coin the term American dream meaning one can achieve anything with sheer hard work and commitment. America is considered a land of hope, light, and prosperity. Much later immigrants from other parts of the world also found refuge in America to experience the American dream, South Asians migrated to America and flourished got prosperous to the extent that now they are part of the power corridors of America. That proves yet again the fact that one can achieve the ultimate with persistence and hard work. An idea upon what America had built its grounding.
the coziness Pakistani diplomatic expecting from the new American administration is a false hope, on the contrary, our foreign office needs to be extra conscious and vigilant plus proactive with this new American regime
It is a triumph for South Asia that almost twenty-five Indian descents are on the key positions in the white house in the Joe Biden administration. The irony of the much this celebrated accomplishment is, that India and Pakistan are never finding themselves in a friendly and favorable position. Our diplomacy with India is always on harsh notes, we are skeptical of our aggressive neighbor, who loves to not miss a chance to harm us.
We need to do individual profiling of all twenty individuals and we must deal with all the Desks occupied by them systematically and meticulously
The point of my writing is logical and based on the sheer idea of basic human cognition, all those Indian Americans inside the White House including Vice President cannot get away from the above-mentioned belonging phenomena because this simply not possible. It will be naïve to consider them Americans and anticipate an unbiased attitude toward us. They originally belong to a country that is our sworn enemy, and that enmity is deeply grounded in their mindset that they simply cannot get away with that. So the coziness Pakistani diplomatic expecting from the new American administration is a false hope, on the contrary, our foreign office needs to be extra conscious and vigilant plus proactive with this new American regime.
Indian Americans in Biden Administration
| S No | Name | Position |
| 1 | Neera Tanden | Director, Office of Management and Budget, White House |
| 2 | Dr Vivek Murthy | Surgeon General of the United States |
| 3 | Vanita Gupta | Associate Attorney General, US Department of Justice |
| 4 | Uzra Zeya | Under Secretary of State for Civilian Security, Democracy, and Human Rights, US Department of State |
| 5 | Mala Adiga | Policy Director to First Lady Dr Jill Biden, White House |
| 6 | Garima Verma | Digital Director, Office of the First Lady Dr Jill Biden, White House |
| 7 | Sabrina Singh | Deputy Press Secretary, White House |
| 8 | Vedant Patel | Assistant Press Secretary, White House |
| 9 | Aisha Shah (Kashmiri Origin) | Partnership Manager, Office of Digital Strategy, White House |
| 10 | Sameera Fazili (Kashmiri origin) | Deputy Director, National Economic Council (NEC), White House |
| 11 | Bharat Ramamurti | Deputy Director, National Economic Council (NEC), White House |
| 12 | Gautam Raghavan | Deputy Director, Office of Presidential Personnel, White House |
| 13 | Vinay Reddy | Director Speech Writing, White House |
| 14 | Tarun Chhabra | Senior Director for Technology and National Security, National Security Council, White House |
| 15 | Sumona Guha | Senior Director for South Asia, National Security Council, White House |
| 16 | Shanthi Kalathil | Coordinator for Democracy and Human Rights, National Security Council, White House |
| 17 | Sonia Aggarwal | Senior Advisor for Climate Policy and Innovation in the Office of the Domestic Climate Policy, White House |
| 18 | Vidur Sharma | Policy Advisor for Testing, Covid -19 Response Team, White House |
| 19 | Neha Gupta | Associate Counsel, Office of the White House Counsel |
| 20 | Reema Shah | Deputy Associate Counsel, Office of the White House Counsel |
The entire region including China has to be extra careful in terms of Desk to Desk or person to person level as reported by DND News article titled “US First Lady Jill Biden has chosen her staff from 20 Indian Americans leading New Presidential Team”
This article indicates that Uzra Zeya belongs to Indian Occupied Kashmir and she has been nominated as under-secretary for civilian security, Democracy, and Human Rights.
“The position of under-secretary of Democracy and Human Rights plays a pivotal role in reviewing Human Rights and Democracy abuses all over the world. It is understood she can oversight Human Rights abuses in Indian Occupied Kashmir as considering that Occupied Kashmir as part of India. She will have Indian American Shanthi Kalathil as Coordinator for Democracy and Human Rights,” stressed DND article.
The article further stated that Sumona Guha had been nominated as Senior Director for South Asia while Shanthi Kalathil– Coordinator for Democracy and Human Rights and both Desks can start a series of comments against China and Pakistan for alleged abuse of Human Rights and can portray Pakistan and China involved in anti-Democracy and anti- Human Rights countries.
We need to do individual profiling of all twenty individuals and we must deal with all the Desks occupied by them systematically and meticulously, it is very important to follow their conduct and track their official routing. It is going to be hectic for the Foreign Office of Pakistan but it could be done. Otherwise, dealing in totality and policymaking in slack will affect our foreign policy extensively.
Note: The writer Shazia Cheema is an analyst writing for national and international media outlets including the Nation, Pakistan Today, Pakistan Observer, Eurasia Diary, InSight, and Mina News Agency. She heads the DND Thought Center. She did her MA in Cognitive Semiotics from Aarhus University Denmark and is currently registered as a Ph.D. Scholar of Semiotics and Philosophy of Communication at Charles University Prague. She can be reached at her: Twitter @ShaziaAnwerCh Email: shaziaanwer@yahoo.com
Disclaimer:
The views and opinions expressed in this article/Opinion/Comment are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the DND Thought Center and Dispatch News Desk (DND). Assumptions made within the analysis are not reflective of the position of the DND Thought Center and Dispatch News Desk News Agency.
