US President Joe Biden has nominated Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti, his close political ally and a former Navy intelligence officer with Indo-Pacific experience, to be the ambassador to India. The White House also announced in July that President Biden was nominating a career diplomat, Peter Haas, as the ambassador to Bangladesh. Both of them will have to be confirmed to their posts by the Senate. MrGarceti tweeted, “Should I be confirmed, I’ll bring this same energy, commitment, and love for this city to my new role and will forge partnerships and connections that will help strengthen Los Angeles’ place on the world stage.”

Global Indian diaspora organisationIndiaspora’s founder M.R. Rangaswami said, “It speaks volumes to the importance of the US-India relationship that a close and trusted ally of President Biden may be America’s point person in Delhi.” The New Delhi ambassadorship is considered an important position and most US ambassadors have been political appointees. Garcetti was a co-chair of Biden’s election campaign and served on the panel that vetted candidates to be his vice president.