MONITORING (SW) – President Joe Biden has said US ended 20 years of ‘relentless war’ in Afghanistan and has open a new era of relentless diplomacy.
In his first UN General Assembly speech since entering the White House, US President Joe Biden underscored the importance of alliances in countering the global challenges posed by ongoing conflicts, climate change and Covid-19.
Biden pledged cooperation with America’s allies and partners to work towards a “collective future” of peace and prosperity in his address to world leaders at the 76th UN General Assembly in New York, reported agencies.
“We stand at an inflection point in history,” said Biden, before calling for a new era of global unity to tackle the Covid-19 pandemic, climate change and emerging threats.
The US president noted his decision to end America’s longest war, in Afghanistan, last month had set the table for his administration to shift attention to intensive diplomacy, with no shortage of crises facing the globe.
“We’ve ended 20 years of conflict in Afghanistan,” Biden said. “And as we close this period of relentless war, we’re opening a new era of relentless diplomacy of using the power of our development aid to invest in new ways of lifting people up around the world.”
He said he is driven by a belief that “to deliver for our own people, we must also engage deeply with the rest of the world”.
Amid growing China tensions Biden also declared the US is “not seeking a new Cold War”.
Without mentioning China directly, Biden acknowledged increasing concerns about rising tensions between the two nations. “We are not seeking a new Cold War or a world divided into rigid blocs,” he said.
Biden vowed to defend US national interests, but said any military missions must be transparent as well as “achievable”.
“The mission must be clear and achievable, undertaken with informed consent of the American people and, whenever possible, in partnership with our allies,” Biden said.
The US military “must not be used as the answer to every problem we see around the world”, he said, adding that military force “must be our tool of last resort – not our first”.
Biden also told the General Assembly that the United States would return to the Iranian nuclear deal in “full” – if Tehran does likewise: “We’re prepared to return to full compliance if Iran does the same.”
ENDS
