By Elishya Perera
AUCKLAND, New Zealand (CWBN)_ New Zealand Prime Minister, Jacinda Ardern, contacted US President-elect Joe Biden over the phone, earlier today (Nov 23).
The Prime Minister said that she had a “positive and warm” phone call with the former Vice-President and noted that they had discussed climate change, Covid-19 and trade in the Indo-Pacific region.
Ardern posted a picture of her on the phone on Instagram, along with the caption, “A real pleasure to speak to US President-elect, Joe Biden this afternoon and congratulate him on behalf of New Zealand.”
Speaking at a weekly post-Cabinet media conference this afternoon, she said added that she extended an invitation to Biden to visit New Zealand, and said that the invitation was warmly received, noting that it seemed only natural, given that Australia has already invited the President-elect for the anniversary of ANZUS next year. During the phone call, the former Vice President had spoken of his fond memories of visiting New Zealand during the Obama administration several years ago.
The Prime Minister said that the President-elect also spoke favourably of New Zealand’s handling of the Coronavirus and had expressed his desire to exchange further information. Accordingly, Ardern had offered access to Kiwi health officials in order to assist Washington to understand New Zealand’s learnings on containing the virus.
Moreover, climate change and global trade were also among the subjects discussed during the phone call. Ardern said she sensed Biden’s desire to work constructively on bilateral trade and other matters of mutual interest including climate action.
Even though the US presidential election result was called for the democratic nominee earlier this month after he overtook President Donald Trump in several battleground states, however, Trump has refused to concede his defeat to the former VP.
Earlier this month, when inquired if Trump was undermining democracy by demanding that vote counting be halted in Michigan and Georgia, Ardern did not go so far as to criticise the Republican president, but stated that “other democracies should be left to run their course but that means letting every vote be counted and letting people have their say and for a democracy to be heard.”
Following Biden’s victory in several swing states, Ardern congratulated Biden and Vice-President-elect Kamala Harris in a statement released on November 8.
“The relationship between our two countries is strong, and I look forward to developing even closer relations with the incoming Biden Administration,” Ardern said.
Edited By Chathushka Perera
