May the ideals of democracy and pluralism be upheld

US voters have elected Democratic Party candidate Joe Biden as the winner in the recent presidential election. His rival, Republican candidate Donald Trump, has not conceded defeat though and is preparing for a legal battle against the outcome of the vote. However, if all goes well, Trump will have to leave the White House in the next 10 weeks and Joe Biden will take over office as the 46th president of the United States. We congratulate Joe Biden on behalf of the people of Bangladesh.

The international media is expressing relief over the defeat of Donald Trump. During his four years as president of the United States, his government has pursued policies at home and abroad that are detrimental to the ideals of democracy, liberalism and pluralism. Attempts to spread the narrow politics of white supremacy in an American society made up of many races, religions, and colour, have divided the society. Many of the fundamental tenets of the US democratic system have been damaged during his tenure.

The decision by the United States to withdraw from the international agreement on climate change aimed at preventing global warming has been widely criticised around the world. Under the Trump administration, the US has even withdrawn from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action with Iran, known as the Iran Nuclear Deal, which was a result of years of multilateral efforts to curb the spread of nuclear weapons in the Middle East. And as part of its growing partiality towards aggressive and expansionist Israel, it has moved the US embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, sparking a backlash in the Arab world. The deterioration of Trump-led US relations with China in the larger geopolitical arena has created an unfavorable environment for peace and stability in the Asia-Pacific region.

"This is the time to heal America," said Joe Biden, the winner of the election. We would say that not only within the American state and society, but also under the leadership of Joe Biden, the new US government will take the initiative to heal the wounds of the international arena. World leaders are congratulating Biden and expressing optimism. As Iranian president Hassan Rouhani has expressed hope, the new US administration led by Joe Biden will correct the Trump administration's incorrect decisions.

Many analysts of international politics are hoping that the pace of growing militarisation, which had accelerated as a result of the Trump administration's competition for influence in the Asia-Pacific region, will slow down under the Biden administration. Joe Biden will focus on economic development. We also hope that instead of spending money on war and militarization, more importance will be given to improving the living standards of the people of all countries through economic cooperation.

The United States is a close friend and major development partner of Bangladesh. The relations between the two countries are cordial and cooperative from the very beginning. We hope that this relationship will be strengthened under president Joe Biden.

Whether or not there is a major shift in US policy towards Asia and South Asia, we need to intensify our efforts to further develop Bangladesh-US relations at the bilateral level. In addition to enhancing economic and trade relations, we need to focus on human rights, elections, democracy and other issues to which the United States attaches great importance.