Verma was a former aide to Hillary Clinton in the State Department.
By The American Bazaar Staff
WASHINGTON, DC: Former assistant secretary of state for legislative affairs at the State Department and a key aide to former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Richard Verma, is going to be nominated on Thursday by President Barack Obama to be the next US Ambassador to India.
Reuters, who first reported Verma’s likely nomination, got the information through an unidentified congressional source. Even though Verma were to be nominated, he would still need to be cleared by the Senate, and it could be months before he finally takes up his position in New Delhi.
The US has come under criticism for not appointing an ambassador to India after the departure of Nancy Powell, who many experts said was removed following the Devyani Khobragade fiasco, and ahead of Narendra Modi becoming the prime minister. The U.S. Embassy in New Delhi is currently headed by a charge d’affaires, Kathleen Stephens.
Verma served as assistant secretary of state for legislative affairs at the State Department in the Obama administration from 2009 to 2011. He is currently a senior counselor at the Steptoe & Johnson law firm and the Albright Stonebridge Group, a business advisory company led by former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, said Reuters.
Verma is also a senior national security fellow at the Center for American Progress, a Washington DC think tank, and was senior national security advisor, counsel and foreign policy advisor to senate majority leader Harry Reid from 2002 to 2007.
If Verma is appointed, he will join other top Indian American officials at the State Department, including Nisha Desai Biswal and Atul Keshap, who served at the US embassy in Delhi and is one of Biswal’s assistant deputy secretaries.
His appointment is also a smart one, considering that if Hillary Clinton decides to run for president, wins the election and moves to the White House, she will have a trusted aide of hers to forge ties with one of the most important allies of the US.
3 Comments
One more person singing the far right tune of “having been truly blessed by God ……..”
No offence menat on his relkigious conversion, but Indians or any non-americans should stop using religion to buld their political careers.. Also, its been seen in practice, quite often the recent converts work hard against denouncing their old religion and culture….Not sure how this Richard ( Dick) will act…
One more person singing the far right tune of “having been truly blessed by God ……..”
No offence menat on his relkigious conversion, but Indians or any non-americans should stop using religion to buld their political careers.. Also, its been seen in practice, quite often the recent converts work hard against denouncing their old religion and culture….Not sure how this Richard ( Dick) will act…
Now India can nominate Sonia Gandhi as Indian Ambassador to Italy