Saturday, 17 December 2011

Obama names new ambassador to India

The Obama administration on Friday nominated Nancy J Powell as the next ambassador to India. She is diplomat who has held several postings in South Asia, one of them as ambassador to Pakistan.
If confirmed by the US senate, she will take over from Tim Roemer who left some months
ago. Peter Burleigh has been the officiating ambassador since then. Powell’s last posting in the region was as ambassador to Nepal at a critical juncture for that country as it transitioned to democracy.
The ambassador-designate has been posted to India before. She was consul general at the US consulate in Kolkata.
Her appointment to India, if confirmed, will be her fifth ambassadorial assignments -- the previous four being to Pakistan, Nepal, Uganda and Ghana.
Roemer, the previous ambassador had announced his resignation the day after it became known that US companies Boeing and Lockheed were not on the short-list for India’s multi-billion dollars purchase order for multi-role combat fighters better known by the acronym MMRCA.
It has then seemed to many that Roemer had resigned in protest. But, Roemer had in fact asked to be relieved of the position much before, the MMRCA announcement was just a coincidence.

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