Some of the first Executive Orders signed by President Biden indicate that he favours multilateralism and a more outward-looking US. While the new president has made working with allies a priority, his primary challenges, however, are domestic. In terms of India-US ties, it remains to be seen how Washington and New Delhi will reconcile their differences over the latter’s dealings with Russia.

Key points:

• Some of the first Executive Orders signed by President Biden indicate that he favours multilateralism and a more outward-looking US.
• Some analysts argue that we may witness a return to a pre-Trump US engagement with the outside world.
• Biden cannot ignore ground realities, however, as the world order in 2021 is quite different to that of 2017.
• An inward-looking economic narrative and the ties of some US allies to Russia and China are likely to emerge as major challenges.