U.S. Vice President and Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris (R) shakes hands with former U.S. President and Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump during a presidential debate at the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on September 10, 2024. Kamala Harris and Donald Trump are entering the final one-month sprint to the most dramatic U.S. presidential election in modern history, with both candidates warning the fate of a divided nation hangs on a result that is still too close to call.
| Photo Credit: AFP
(This article is part of the View From India newsletter curated by The Hindu’s foreign affairs experts. To get the newsletter in your inbox every Monday, subscribe here.)
The U.S. presidential race is less than a month away. As political stakes get higher we see how key candidates are turning to the media in a bid to court different constituencies. Democratic candidate and Vice President, Kamala Harris, has been engaged in an unusual spate of media interviews, our correspondent Sriram Lakshman writes.
Ms. Harris, who has not held a formal press conference since she became the presumptive nominee for her party at the end of July, is racing to let voters get better acquainted with her. Her Republic opponent, former President Donald Trump, is much more of a known quantity. While Ms. Harris seeks to define her positions more, the other side has stepped up its efforts to crystallise their definition of her – pegging Ms. Harris to the Biden administration’s policies, he reports from Washington D.C. Interestingly, Mr. Trump, speaking on a podcast show, praised Prime Minister Narendra Modi and said: “He’s great, he’s a friend of mine…on the outside he [Mr. Modi] looks like your father, he’s the nicest… total killer”.
Meanwhile, a former BJP MLA’s online event in support of Mr. Trump was “postponed”, days after the BJP had distanced itself from the event and its organiser. The event, a Zoom call scheduled for Saturday, was organised by former Delhi BJP MLA Vijay Jolly. It was titled ‘Donald Trump — Bharat aur America Sabse Acche Dost [India and America, the best of friends]‘. The event notice carried the tag line ‘Support Trump — To Save America’. However, the BJP’s foreign cell chief Vijay Chauthaiwale disowned the event earlier this week, calling into question Mr. Jolly’s leadership in the party.
In the run up to the polls, The Hindu brings to you a new mini-series, ‘The View From Washington’ by Sriram Lakshman. Watch the first episode here.
Aiding war, abetting destruction
Even as the United States prepares to elect its new leader, the Pentagon on Sunday said it was sending an advance missile defence system to Israel, along with 100 American troops, to augment Israel’s integrated air defense system as tensions with Iran grow. Follow our live updates here.
In a joint statement on October 12, 2024, as many as 34 countries contributing troops to the United Nations Interim Force In Lebanon (UNIFIL) condemned ongoing attacks on peacekeepers and called on all to respect the UNIFIL’s mission and ensure the safety of its personnel. On the other hand, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has called on the UN chief to move UN peacekeepers deployed in southern Lebanon out of “harm’s way”, ruling out his forces’ retreat.
Israel Defence Forces (IDF) tanks destroyed the main gate of a facility of the UN peacekeeping forces at Ramyah in south Lebanon on Sunday, the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) said. The UN forces are coming under attack for the fourth consecutive day, writes Dinakar Peri.
Meanwhile, India was a notable exclusion from a letter signed by 104 countries, including European and African countries, as well as much of the Global South that “condemned” Israel for banning United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres from entering Israeli territory. Most neighbouring countries in South Asia, as well as West Asia, South America and Africa — making up the developing world — signed the letter that was circulated at the U.N. last week, writes Suhasini Haidar.
Neighbourhood matters
Nearly a year after his election, Maldives President Mohamed Muizzu made his first bilateral visit to Delhi, seen as an attempt to mend fences with Delhi after a year of strained bilateral ties. Signalling a significant recalibration of India’s relations with Maldives, New Delhi signed a major currency swap agreement with the island nation for $750 million to help it tide over its current foreign currency crunch, after PM Modi met with President Muizzu in New Delhi last week.
As External Affairs Minister Jaishankar prepares to visit Islamabad for the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Heads of Government meet on October 15-16, neither India nor Pakistan has requested a bilateral meeting, said Pakistan’s Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar. Suhasini Haidar reports.
In Sri Lanka, where general elections are due next month, the prominent Rajapaksa brothers who dominated the political scene for decades have opted out of the race, even as the island nation’s political landscape sees major changes.
Meanwhile, a Chinese naval fleet visited Bangladesh on October 12, 2024, becoming the first foreign fleet to do so after since the interim government took charge in Dhaka in early August, writes Kallol Bhattacherjee.
Top 5 stories we are reading this week:
1. China, India and New Delhi’s Quad dilemma by M.K. Narayanan
2. A re-balancing of India’s great power relations by Vinay Kaura
3. Sunset for the U.K.’s coal-fired power, lessons for India by Kunal Shankar
4. Han Kang | Chronicler of grief by Sudipta Dutta
5. Nihon Hidankyo | No more ‘hibakusha’ by Srinivasan Ramani
Published – October 14, 2024 01:13 pm IST
