Biden's close political ally Garcetti to be US ambassador to India

Eric Garcetti will be new US Ambassador to India. President Joe Biden has named Garcetti, a close political ally, as his nominee for ambassador to India. Garcetti, 50, is currently serving as mayor of Los Angeles.The White House announced his nomination on Friday along with three other ambassadors. Garcetti was co-chair of Biden’s presidential campaign and was also part of the committee that Biden had appointed to look for his running mate. After the election, Garcetti was named one of the co-chairs of the inauguration committee. He was widely expected to get a cabinet berth and reports have suggested he was being considered for secretary housing.

Biden’s ambassadorial nominee for India will be one of the more high-profile announcements for the administration given the focus the US president has brought on ties with India, bilaterally and as part of the Quad with Japan and Australia. The White House announcement said as mayor, Garcetti oversees the busiest container port in the Western Hemisphere, the largest municipal utility in the country, and one of the busiest airports in the world. Garcetti’s familiarity with the region owes also to his 12 years as Intelligence Officer in the US Navy Reserve Component. Garcetti served under the Commander, U.S. Pacific Fleet and the Defense Intelligence Agency, retiring in 2017 as a Lieutenant. He is a Rhodes Scholar and studied at Queen’s College, Oxford and the London School of Economics and Political Science.