USA / Indian-Americans have powered US' economic growth: Joe Biden

Washington: Indian-Americans, with their hard work and entrepreneurship, have powered the economic growth of the United States and helped forge cultural dynamism in the country, Democratic presidential candidate and former vice president Joe Biden said on Tuesday.

Addressing a national virtual fundraiser organised by Indian Americans, Biden assured the community members and the mega donors that as a president, he would address their concerns with regard to H-1B visa and legal immigrants that attract the best and the brightest to the US.

Think about what this community has done for the country, he said.

Entrepreneurs running businesses around the country and around the world, innovators who make the foundation for Silicon Valley and lead some of the most influential companies in the world come from the community, the former vice president said.

"You have helped forge an economic and cultural dynamism in this country. That is a continuation of who we are, we are a nation of immigrants," Biden said.

Hitting out at President Donald Trump, he said all the harmful actions on H-1B, racial injustice or climate crisis are a common threat. "This president makes things worse, not better," Biden added.

It makes parents wonder whether their kids will have the kind of future they dreamed of when they came here, he said.

"As president, I promise I am going to draw on the best, not the worst, beat this pandemic and build the economy back, help our kids get a good education and make sure healthcare is a right not a privilege, and build an immigration system that powers our economy and reflects our values," Biden said.

"We do not talk enough about how the Indian American community has powered our economic growth," the former vice president said in his address to the virtual fundraiser, which according to his spokesperson Remi Yamamoto was attended by 268 people.

Highly appreciative of the cultural, social and family values of Indian Americans, Biden said that is why he values the Indian American Diaspora so much.

Seema Sadanandan, a senior policy adviser to the campaign, opened the fundraiser and asked Dr Vivek Murthy, former surgeon general, to start off by talking about his relationship with Biden. Family was the main theme of the conversation with a few references thrown in about Indian food.

"Joe Biden is the kind of guy I would love to bring home to have dinner with my mom and dad," Dr Murthy said in his opening remarks, adding that some homemade masala dosa would be served.

"He is authentic. He is real. And he says what he thinks and that is something I really love about him. He says what is on his mind. He is honest and true," he said.

Biden, Dr Murthy said, is a man who generally meets with his values and those values are reliably centred around generosity and community. "It is who he is," Dr Murthy said.

In a statement, Ajay Jain Bhutoria, Asian American Pacific Islander Leadership Council and National Finance Committee member of the Biden campaign, said the former vice president will bring hope, unity, change and healing to the country.

"He will restore the soul of America and its glorious position on the world stage. He will be the best friend of India and Indo-Americans.

He will streamline H1Bs, remove green card backlogs, sign new trade deals, implement climate change agreements, protect us against hate crimes, guard our places of worship and ensure that South Asians are well represented in his administration," Mr Bhutoria said.