Biden links Hamas attack with West Asia reset push

US President Joe Biden has drawn a direct link between Hamas's terror attack against Israel with the US-led efforts at regional integration in West Asia, hinting at the process to establish diplomatic ties between Saudi Arabia-Israel and projects such as the India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor (IMEC) as possible triggers for the conflagration in West Asia.

- Prashant Jha

Biden also said that the US will continue to compete with China, pointing specifically to IMEC in the context of challenging the Belt & Road Initiative (BRI). He hailed Quad as a mechanism that will contribute to peace and said he looked forward to attending the Quad Leaders' Summit in India next year.

Biden was speaking along with visiting Australian PM Anthony Albanese at the White House, where the two leaders reaffirmed their commitment to a free and open Indo-Pacific and Aukus, the AustraliaUS-UK nuclear submarine deal that requires US Congress to pass the relevant legislation.

Speaking on the Israel-Hamas war, Biden said that he had spoken to several regional leaders, from Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Palestine, and Egypt in recent days, "about making sure there is real hope in the region for a better future; about the need - and I mean this sincerely - about the need to work toward a greater integration for Israel while insisting that the aspirations of the Palestinian people will be part of that future as well".