Biden has a history of favourable interactions with India. As early as August 2001, Biden - then, as now, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee - indicated his support for the Bush administration’s development of strategic ties with India. More recently, during a visit to New Delhi, he urged that the US-India nuclear agreement be consummated, and his backing of the deal during the legislative process that led to the Hyde Act was crucial in ensuring its passage.

Two questions concerning Biden and his impact on the presidential election will be answered in the coming weeks: Can his performance on the campaign trail, or even his very presence on a ticket, help tip key states such as Ohio, Indiana, Virginia, Colorado and Michigan in Obama’s favour? And can he help digest Obama’s platform from wordy and nuanced expositions into easily-digestible catchphrases? If the answer to both is yes, Obama would have made his smartest decision yet since clinching his party’s nomination for president.

The writer researches US foreign policy in Washington DC