In his first appearance at United Nations (UN) since assuming office, United States President Joe Biden on Tuesday will defend the troop withdrawal from Afghanistan and affirm his country’s commitment to tackling climate change and other global issues. “America is back. We believe in the United Nations and its value,” Biden said Monday before a meeting with the world body’s Secretary-General Antonio Guterres. In the run-up to the US presidential elections, Joe Biden sought to present himself as a committed internationalist and restore America’s global standing which he said had been undone by Donald Trump’s “America First” policies.

In his speech at the 76th session of the UN General Assembly in New York, Biden will “lay out the case for why the next decade will determine our future, not just for the United States but for the global community, and he will talk…about the importance of re-establishing our alliances after the last several years,” White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki told reporters.

Biden will emphasise that ending the war in Afghanistan “closed a chapter focused on war and opens a chapter focused on … purposeful, effective, intensive American diplomacy,” a senior White House official told reporters on Monday.

Biden has faced severe criticism at home and abroad over the hasty withdrawal which saw the Taliban overrun the US-backed Afghan government within a week and prompted a massive global evacuation operation from Kabul.

Last week France recalled its ambassador to the US over Washington’s deal to provide Australia with technology for its nuclear-powered submarines. While Biden plans to hold talks with French President Emmanuel Macron over the issue, the White House has said he has no plans to abandon the agreement with Australia.

Biden also announced a security alliance with Britain and Australia, which will be known by the acronym AUKUS, to counter “rapidly evolving threats”, in an apparent reference to China’s growing belligerence in the Indo-Pacific region.

Biden is set to hold meetings with Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison and British Prime Minister Boris Johnson after his UN speech.

China is expected to be a major focus of Biden’s UN speech as he will press for an era of “vigorous competition with great powers, but not a new Cold War,” the senior White House official said.

Chinese President Xi Jinping is among several world leaders lined up to speak at the session.

Biden will also reaffirm US commitments on climate change and COVID-19 vaccine donations, the official said.

On Friday, he will host at the White House the prime ministers of Australia, India, Japan in the first in-person summit of the four-nation Quad alliance.