Joe Biden: A foreign Policy Expert And friend of India

This news updete by www.zeenews.com

Washington: US Vice President-elect Joseph 'Joe' Biden is a longtime Senator and veteran foreign policy expert who is considered a close friend of India.

Biden, the chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee, was a strong backer of the Indo-US nuclear deal and played an important role in securing Congressional approval for it.

The 65-year-old Senator from Delaware has also served as chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, dealing with issues related to drug policy, crime prevention and civil liberties.

But it was his foreign policy expertise that was said to have been the key factor for Barack Obama picking him as running mate.

Biden had been a strong critic of the Bush Administration's foreign policies. He supported the Iraq invasion but flayed the handling of the post-war situation. He was first elected to the Senate in 1972 to became the fifth-youngest senator in US history. He was re-elected to the Senate in 1978, 1984, 1990, 1996, and 2002.

He declared his bid for presidency on January 31, 2007, but never rose above single digits in the Democratic opinion polls and withdrew from the race after first caucus in Iowa. The Democrat is also known for his occasional gaffes.

He once suggested Obama was not ready for presidency. In January 2007, he described Obama as "the first mainstream African-American who is articulate and bright and clean and a nice-looking guy", a comment seen by many as indirectly racist.

In July 2006, Biden got flak for a remark about Indian- Americans. "In Delaware, the largest growth in population is Indian-Americans moving from India. You cannot go to a 7-Eleven or a Dunkin' Donuts unless you have a slight Indian accent," he said but later clarified that he did not mean to be derogatory.

Biden also carries the memory of a personal tragedy. In 1972, his wife and infant daughter were killed in a car crash that also injured his two sons. He remarried in 1977.


Via news