In a first of its kind, President Barack Obama has nominated Indian-American Richard Rahul Verma as the next US Ambassador to India just ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s American sojourn.
A former Assistant Secretary of State from 2009 to 2011, Verma’s nomination needs to be confirmed by the Senate before he can succeed Ambassador Nancy Powell, who quit her post last March following the protracted spat over the harsh treatment meted out to Indian diplomat Devyani Khobragade in New York.
Known for his close proximity to President Obama, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Senate Majority leader Harry Reid, the 45-year-old Verma is currently a senior counsellor at Steptoe & Johnson law firm and the Albright Stonebridge Group. He is also a Senior National Security Fellow at the Center for American Progress, the prominent Washington-based Democratic think tank.
Announcing the nomination of Verma along with a few others to key slots in his administration, Obama said: “I am grateful that these impressive individuals have chosen to dedicate their talents to serving the American people at this important time for our country. I look forward to working with them in the months and years ahead.”
A leading practitioner in the fields of national security law, international, international regulatory compliance and public policy, Verma has more than two decades of international and senior-level US government experience.
Obama, who is credited with the naming of far more Indian-Americans to key administrative positions than any other US president, already has a member of the community, Nisha Desai Biswal, as his administration’s point person for South Asia.
Picking an Indian-American for the ambassadorial slot is regarded as all the more significant because of the unexpected low to which US-India relations had descended in the wake of the Khobragade row, prompting New Delhi to institute tit-for-tat actions as the feud raged for well over two months.
In a wider context, the other obvious compulsion for Obama to pick an Indian-American has been to go all out to provide a healing touch in terms of relations with the government headed by Modi, someone shunned by the US establishment for close to a decade over the Gujarat riots.
Verma’s association with Obama is said to go back to 2008, when he was involved with the presidential debate preparations for the then-Illinois senator. little wonder that after his victory, Obama named Verma as Assistant Secretary of State for legislative Affairs under Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.
A son of immigrants from Punjab who arrived in the US in the early 1960s, Verma and his four siblings were raised in Pennsylvania. His father taught at the University of Pittsburgh for four decades.
Verma graduated from Georgetown University law Center with an llM, after receiving his BS from lehigh University and JD from American University.
In a distinguished career, Verma has also served as Senior National Security Advisor, Counsel and Foreign Policy Advisor to the Senate Majority leader Harry Reid from 2002 to 2007. He has also been on active duty in the US Air Force from 1994 to 1998, receiving the Meritorious Service Medal and Air Force Commendation Medal.
Verma has also served on the Commission on the Prevention of Weapons of Mass Destruction Proliferation and Terrorism in 2008, and has been a member of the Secretary of State’s Foreign Affairs Policy Board. Currently, he also serves on the boards of Human Rights First, the Clinton Foundation, and the National Democratic Institute.
Key lawmakers and American business circles were quick to welcome Verma’s nomination. As Congressman Joe Crowley, the co-chair of the Congressional Caucus on India and Indian-Americans, put it: ‘He (Verma) is committed to building the US-India relationship, has access to the highest levels of the White House, and is exactly who we need at the helm as we look to further strengthen US-India relations.”
US-India Business Council chairman Ajay Banga said Verma’s distinguished record in business, international trade and public service makes him uniquely qualified to represent American interests at this pivotal time for US-India relations.