What’s wrong with this picture?

Since the war in Ukraine began, Biden has consistently presented it as part of an epoch global struggle between “democracy” and “autocracy.” For instance, in February, as the first anniversary of the war approached, Biden proclaimed:

Democracies of the world will stand guard over freedom today, tomorrow, and forever. … [Putin] thought autocrats like himself were tough and leaders of democracies were soft. And then, he met the iron will of America and the nations everywhere that refused to accept a world governed by fear and force. … Appetites of the autocrat cannot be appeased. They must be opposed.

Now flash forward for a glimpse of the reality of the international alliance Biden is forging.

In late June, the Biden administration organized a lavish welcome for Narendra Modi, the Hindu-fascist prime minister of India, who has  held power and shaped India for over nine years. (India is now the most populous country in the world and a major regional power in South Asia, bordering China.)

Modi was treated to a private dinner with Biden, a pomp-filled welcoming on the White House South Lawn, and a star-studded state dinner.

At a joint press conference, Biden sang the praises of

the friendship and partnership between India and the United States … A partnership that is among the most consequential in the world, that is stronger, closer, and more dynamic than any time in history.

Biden went on to say that this “partnership” was built on “democratic values of universal human rights … press freedom, religious freedom, tolerance, diversity.”

But even by the rather loose standards of Biden and other defenders of U.S. imperialism (when judging the “democratic credentials” of themselves and their allies), Modi is a shockingly brutal and dangerous “authoritarian,”—a Hindu-fascist who believes India should be ruled by and for Hindus and ruthlessly crushes any opposition even from within the Indian ruling class.

India’s 200 million Muslims are persecuted both by discriminatory laws aimed at denying them citizenship, and through the unleashing of Hindu-fascist mobs that burn mosques and homes and have killed dozens of Muslims, including many burned alive; Indian police do nothing. Modi’s home minister refers to Muslims as “termites” who should be “thrown into the Bay of Bengal.” 

Modi also illegally invaded and occupied the Muslim-majority state of Jammu and Kashmir, locking down the entire population in their homes, arresting thousands, barring foreign journalists and shutting down the internet for five months.

Throughout India, opposition politicians, students, lawyers and journalists who dissent are hounded and sometimes jailed for years. In February of this year, the BBC office was raided. India ranks 161 out of 180 for “freedom of the press.”

And this is just scratching the surface.

It’s not that Biden is unaware of all this, or even that he “approves” of it. It’s just that when it comes to forging an international military and political alliance to defeat other imperialists—Russia and China—who are challenging U.S. global domination, how Biden defines “autocracy” and “democracy” is actually determined by what serves that American global domination.