Qureshi hopes Biden will play role to resolve Kashmir dispute.

ISLAMABAD -- Pakistan has high hopes from US President-elect Joe Biden as he prepares to replace Donald Trump at the White House, officials said yesterday.

Biden will be inaugurated on January 20 after winning the November elections, defeating President Trump.

Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi said the new President acknowledges Pakistan's efforts for regional peace, especially on bringing normalcy in Afghanistan. 'We are optimistic about his role on the Kashmir issue. We hope he will play a role to resolve this decades-old dispute,' he told The Nation.

Qureshi said that Pakistan was looking forward to working with Joe Biden and expect to multiply Pak-US ties during his tenure.

Reports said several executive orders were planned by President-elect Joe Biden as soon as he takes office. Biden is likely to issue decrees to reverse President Trump's travel bans and re-join the Paris climate accord on his first day.

The President-elect is also expected to focus on reuniting children separated from families at the border and issue mandates on Covid-19 and mask-wearing.

All 50 US states are on high alert for possible violence in the run-up to the inauguration ceremony, with National Guard troops deployed to guard Washington DC.

The President-elect is taking over a country in the midst of an unprecedented pandemic. Daily deaths from Covid-19 are in thousands and almost 400,000 have lost their lives. On top of the virus raging, the country is reeling from recent political violence.

The theme for Biden's inauguration will be 'America United' with the President-elect focusing on healing political divisions. Vice-President Mike Pence is expected to attend the ceremony, though Trump has said he will not.

Over the weekend, Joe Biden inducted a second Pakistani-American, Salman Ahmed, into his foreign policy team, said a statement.

Ahmed, who served as head of strategic planning in the Obama National Security Council, is joining the US State Department as director policy planning.

Last month, Biden had announced that another Pakistani American, Ali Zaidi, will join his team as Deputy National Climate Adviser.

Zaidi will work directly under former Secretary of State John Kerry who has been appointed Biden's special envoy for climate.

Biden has also inducted two women...