Nisha Desai Biswal on verge of becoming first desi to head the Bureau.
By Dileep Thekkethil
BANGALORE: Nisha Desai Biswal, who is at present the Assistant Administrator for Asia, United States Agency for International Development (USAID), has been nominated by President Barak Obama to head the South Asia Bureau in the US State department.
If the senate confirms the nomination of Biswal, she will become the first person of Indian American origin to head the South Asia Bureau.
A second generation Indian American, Biswal was earlier the Majority Clerk for the State Department and Foreign Operations Subcommittee on the Committee on Appropriations in the U.S. House of Representatives which has jurisdiction over the State Department, USAID and other aspects of the international affairs budget.
Prior to that, Biswal was the Director of Policy and Advocacy at InterAction, the largest alliance of U.S. based international humanitarian and development non-governmental organizations. She previously served on the professional staff of the House International Relations Committee where she was responsible for South and Central Asia policy as well as oversight of the State Department and USAID.
During her four years at USAID, Biswal also worked in the Office of U.S. Foreign Disaster Assistance, the Office of Transition Initiatives, and served as chief of staff in the Management Bureau. Biswal has also worked with the American Red Cross both in their Washington headquarters and overseas as an international delegate in Armenia, Georgia and Azerbaijan. Biswal holds a B.A. from the University of Virginia.