India-US ties: Overcoming hesitation The ties between Delhi and Washington seemed headed for the doldrums due to a policy error on Biden’s part, but the US reversal is a good sign for both nations Share Via Email | A+A A- The Biden administration had earlier invoked the US Defense Production Act to ban the export of critical raw material for the production of vaccines. The air bridge bringing in American assistance to India to combat the Chinese-origin Covid pandemic is in operation, putting an end to the uncertainty and hesitation that marked the Biden administration’s initial stand on this issue. Indians growing up in the 1960s remember the PL-480 wheat shipments for a grain-starved India were each personally authorised by President Lyndon Johnson. He was irritated by India’s stand on the Vietnam war. The American State Department’s official spokesperson’s comments that the nation’s obligation devolved first on its own citizens and this would be good for the world must rank as insensitive, if not an egregious faux pas during the Covid pandemic.