If, as widely expected, Verma is confirmed by the full Senate, two Indian-Americans will be dealing with matters relating to India in both Washington and New Delhi. Nisha Desai Biswal, hailing from Prime Minister Narendra Modi's home state of Gujarat, became the first Indian American to head State Department's South Asia bureau last November. Recalling his past association with the panel, Verma said "If confirmed, I am committed to partnering with you again in shaping our relationship to India—a country so important that President Obama called it the defining relationship for the United States in the 21st Century."

"The US and India share a wide-range of critical national interests," he said. "Our partnership is deep, it touches nearly every endeavor of human pursuit, and it has produced important gains for each of our countries."

"Across Asia, US and Indian interests are converging. India has been called the lynchpin of our Asia rebalance," Verma said. "With India's Look East, and now Act East policies, our two countries can play a critically important role together in bolstering peace and security and promoting a rules-based, liberal, democratic order in the Indo-Pacific region," he said "The ripple effects of our partnership need not be limited to Asia," Verma said.