After Biswal, 2nd high level appointment for a desi at the State Department.
By Deepak Chitnis
WASHINGTON, DC: President Barack Obama has nominated Indian American Puneet Talwar to the highly coveted position of the Assistant Secretary of State for Political Military Affairs.
The position is one of the highest in the field of US foreign policy. The responsibilities of the job include creating policies and strategies for national defense, military operations, and trade, among other things. Talwar is now the second Indian American to be nominated to an assistant secretary position in the US Department of State, the other being Nisha Desai Biswal, who Obama nominated this past July in the field of South and Central Asia.
Talwar graduated from Cornell University before earning his master’s degree at the School of International and Public Affairs at Columbia University. From 1990 to 1992, he was an official with the United Nations. Following that, he was a foreign policy advisor to Rep. Thomas C. Sawyer (D-OH) until 1995. From 1997-1999, he was the chief Middle East foreign policy advisor to Senator Joe Biden (D-DE), who is now the US Vice-President and is considering running in 2016 to succeed Obama at the head of the country.
From 2001-2009, he was a Senior Professional Staff Member on the Senate’s Committee on Foreign Relations. Since 2009, he has been a Special Assistant to President Obama. Talwas has been part of the Obama administration for the past four years as a top policy advisor for the Middle East region.
A nomination from Obama, however, does not mean Talwar automatically gets the job; he must still be confirmed by Congress. Although Obama has typically had little problem getting nominees passed by Congress, the fact that Talwar is a Middle East policy expert during a time when Obama is attempting intervention in the region may give Congress a reason to pause.
During his address to the nation Tuesday night, Obama made it clear that he feels an intervention in Syria is necessary in order to stop Syrian President Bashar al-Assad from using chemical weapons against his own people. The address was seen by many as a plea to the American people to support the intervention, despite recent numbers indicating that as much as 60% of Americans do not want the US to get involved. With Congress deeply divided on the issue and the reputation of the US in the international community on the line, Talwar’s confirmation may take longer than usual.