iNDICA NEWS BUREAU-
The voting on the nomination of former Los Angeles Mayor Eric M Garcetti as the country’s next Ambassador to India will be held on Wednesday, the US Senate said.
On March 8, the Senate Foreign Relations Committee voted 13-8 to approve Garcetti’s nomination, setting up a vote by the full 100-member Senate. Two Republican senators voted with all 11 Democrats on the committee to clear Garcetti, who may get the full Senate’s approval with similar bipartisanship.
President Joe Biden nominated Garcetti, a former mayor of Los Angeles and once-rising star in the Democratic party, as ambassador to India in 2021. He had his confirmation hearing as well, but he never got a vote of the Senate committee as objections rose to his handling of a case of sexual harassment by his associate in Los Angeles.
Despite the headwinds, the White House stood by Garcetti, who was a prominent ally of President Biden during his presidential campaign, and Biden re-nominated him this year.
The ambassadorship to India is an important diplomatic post that includes managing US strategy with China, one of a number of challenges that have strained relations with New Delhi.
India has maintained a neutral stance on the war in Ukraine and has continued to purchase discounted oil from Russia, rebuffing the Biden administration’s offer to replace Russian oil with US supplies, the WSJ said.
Ben Cardin, a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee who supports Garcetti’s nomination, has said: “India is a key player in the global geopolitics and national security issues…We need a confirmed ambassador. I met with him, so I had a chance to listen directly to what he said and I had a chance to check out a lot of the things he was saying, and I’m satisfied.”
The United States has not had a full-time envoy in India since since early 2021 when the previous US envoy Kenneth Juster completed his tenure.
