CNN MEANWHİLE IN AMERICA June 21, 2023 State visit Indian PM Modi and more ...

 

June 21, 2023       Stephen Collinson, Caitlin Hu and Shelby Rose

Howdy Modi

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi departs for the US from New Delhi. (ANI)

Could Joe Biden be contradicting his own foreign policy by offering a state visit to Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi?   India has long been hailed in Washington as the world's largest democracy. But there's growing concern inside Biden’s administration and on Capitol Hill about Modi's authoritarian turn and growing crackdowns on human rights and press freedoms.   In its latest human rights report, the US State Department warned of "significant" abuses in Modi’s India, including credible reports of unlawful and arbitrary killings by the government or its agents; of torture or degrading treatment by police and in prisons; and threats of violence and prosecution of journalists.    Is Biden, who frames his presidency as a bulwark against authoritarianism, compromising his own principles? Yes, probably.   Biden's hopes of resisting the growing power of undemocratic governments fall largely along two strategic axes: confronting China’s growing power, and holding back Russian President Vladimir Putin's bid to reconstitute the Soviet empire, including with his invasion of Ukraine. Washington sees both countries as threats to what it calls the rules-based international order, which has underpinned the West's dominance since World War II. India, which has long guarded its non-aligned status, is crucial to both legs of this strategy.   Since the Clinton White House, US presidents have been working to bring India closer. Today, Delhi is a member of the Quad group, which comprises the US, Japan and Australia, and holds regular strategic security dialogues. The Quad is not specifically an anti-China alliance -- but it is clearly a response to Beijing's increasing might. And though Biden hasn't been able to convince Modi to explicitly condemn Putin's invasion of Ukraine, at least India is not helping the Russian war effort.    So during Modi’s visit, Biden may privately express concern about India’s human rights performance -- but the geopolitical stakes are likely too high for him to embarrass Modi by making it public.

Modi and then-President Donald Trump in the Rose Garden on June 26, 2017.

Modi and then-President Barack Obama in the Oval Office on June 7, 2016.

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The world and America Searchers are still looking for a submersible carrying five people that went missing during a trip to view the wrecked Titanic.   Two Royal Canadian Air Force members are missing after their helicopter crashed into the Ottawa River.   And a riot in a women's prison in Honduras left 41 people dead.   Meanwhile in America, the Pentagon said that it made a $6.2 billion accounting error with aid to Ukraine.   A former NYC police officer was convicted of stalking a New Jersey family on behalf of the Chinese government.   And millions of people are under extreme heat alerts in the South and Southwest, where hundreds of thousands are already without power.

The 2024 spotlight The plea deal likely to spare Hunter Biden a jail term will only fuel Republican Party fervor to purge the Justice Department -- already a driving issue in the 2024 campaign as ex-President Donald Trump portrays himself as a victim of political persecution.   Top GOP leaders reacted with predictably orchestrated fury to the agreement reached between President Joe Biden's son and the Justice Department, claiming he had benefited from a "sweetheart deal" despite the fact that the president had taken pains to separate himself from the case and that there is no evidence of political interference.   Trump, who's twice been indicted, wasted no time in claiming the Hunter Biden case shows that he has been unfairly targeted -- even though many of his own legal problems are worsened by his habit of resisting the justice system at every turn.   Under the arrangement, Hunter Biden will plead guilty to two tax misdemeanors and struck a deal with federal prosecutors to resolve a felony gun charge. Debate over the exact terms of the deal will likely play out until a federal judge finalizes the terms, but the GOP reaction so far signals that the potential end of Hunter Biden's legal troubles will not keep him out of the spotlight.   Hunter Biden is set to play a starring role in the 2024 election as Joe Biden's political enemies seek to weaponize his son's legal struggles -- those that are real and those that are hyped by conservative media.   Top conservatives, including the GOP House majority and key committee chairs, are highlighting Hunter Biden's legal woes and business career to try to portray the president as heading a "crime family." Their intent is clear -- to shield Trump, who is under intense legal pressure in multiple cases relating to his conduct before, during and after his presidency and is seeking to delegitimize the political and legal institutions that subject him to accountability.   Nevermind that many of the GOP efforts to leverage allegations against Hunter Biden have failed so far to produce evidence of wrongdoing by the president. And Joe Biden may have plenty of more salient issues complicating his reelection bid, not the least of which is his low approval rating.   Still, House Oversight Chairman James Comer said Tuesday the US attorney running the Hunter Biden case -- a Trump appointee -- would be invited to testify to one or more committees as the GOP carries out its own investigations into the president, signaling the GOP will work to keep the issue alive well into the campaign.

U.S. President Joe Biden and his son, Hunter Biden, walk together on Johns Island, South Carolina on August 13, 2022.

Thanks for reading.   On Wednesday, a US House Oversight Subcommittee hearing will be consider the constitutionality of federal, state, and local actions during the COVID-19 pandemic.