The 77-year-old former vice president of the United States and also the Democratic party nominee for the forthcoming US Presidential elections Joe Biden, who has been making a lot of noise recently by sticking his neck into India’s internal affairs by raking up the issue of Kashmir, was once awarded the ‘Hilal-i-Pakistan’ award from the Pakistan government in ‘recognition of their consistent support for Pakistan’.
In 2008, the then Pakistan’s President Asif Ali Zardari had announced to award the then US Democratic Vice Presidential nominee Joe Biden and Republican Senator Richard Lugar with ‘Hilal-i-Pakistan’ – the second-highest civil award in Pakistan.
The then Pakistan’s President Zardari had awarded them the award in recognising their consistent support for Pakistan. Earlier in that year, Joe Biden and Senator Richard Lugar had introduced a bipartisan US aid plan which calls for $1.5 billion per year in non-military spending to support economic development in Pakistan.
The enthusiasm of Joe Biden, who has a habit of poking into India’s internal affairs by claiming that he would raise the issue of Kashmir with India and would also convey its concerns on a recent Indian law that discriminates against Muslims if elected, perhaps stems out of from the fact that he was awarded by the then Pakistan government for boosting ties between Pakistan and the United States.
Joe Biden interference in India’s internal affairs
Joe Biden has kicked up a controversy by expressing his unsolicited views on Jammu and Kashmir, Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and the National Register of Citizens (NRC) in India.
Democrat Biden who is challenging the 74-year-old Republican incumbent president Donald Trump in the November 3 presidential elections, had asked India to take necessary steps to restore rights of all Kashmiris and has expressed disappointment over the Citizenship (Amendment) Act as well as the implementation of the National Register of Citizens in Assam.
A policy paper—’Joe Biden’s agenda for Muslim American community’ was posted recently on his campaign website, which stated that the measures (the CAA and the National Register of Citizens) are irreconcilable with the country’s long tradition of secularism and with sustaining a multi-ethnic and multi-religious democracy.
