India on March 16 welcomed the appointment and ‘confirmation’ of Eric Garcetti as the new US ambassador to India.
“We welcome the confirmation of Eric Garcetti as Ambassador to India. We look forward to working with him to take forward our multifaceted bilateral relations,” MEA spokesman Arindam Bagchi has said here.
Notably, Eric Garcetti’s nomination for the prestigious diplomatic posting as the US Ambassador to India had been pending before the US Congress since July 2021, when President Joe Biden nominated him for the position. Before his confirmation, the position had remained vacant for over two years.
The US Senate Committee has finally announced the appointment of Eric Garcetti as the new US Ambassador to India. He is known to be a close acquaintance of President Biden. He has also emerged as a leader within the Democratic Party. However, Garcetti’s tenure as mayor of Los Angeles lasted for nine years and was not without controversy.
It may be stated that when he was elected as the Mayor of Los Angeles in 2013, he became the city’s youngest mayor in 100 years, and the first Jewish person to take that chair. He was in the coveted office till 2022.
The 52-year-old earned his BA and MA from Columbia University and studied as a Rhodes Scholar at Oxford and the London School of Economics. He was also an officer in the US Navy reserve for 12 years and “is an avid jazz pianist and photographer”.
Kenneth Juster was the last US envoy in New Delhi. He stepped down in January 2021 after Joe Biden was elected President.
The Senate voted 52-42 to confirm Eric’s nomination on March 15. Last week, the Senate Foreign Relations Committee voted in favour of his nomination.
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