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washington [US]March 15 (ANI): The US Senate said it would hold a vote on Wednesday to nominate former Los Angeles Mayor Eric M Garcetti to be the country’s next ambassador to India.
Last week, The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported that Garcetti “dropped out of the committee in a 13-8 vote, bringing him closer to final confirmation by the full Senate at a pivotal moment in U.S.-India relations.”
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The nomination has been held up for more than a year amid concerns among some lawmakers that Garcetti turned a blind eye to allegations that a former top aide sexually harassed subordinates and made racist remarks, The Wall Street Journal reported. Despite the headwinds, the White House has backed Garcetti, a key ally during Biden’s presidential campaign, who nominated him again this year.
Ambassador to India is a key diplomatic post that includes managing the U.S. strategy toward China, one of many challenges straining relations with New Delhi. The Wall Street Journal stated that India maintained a neutral position on the Ukraine war and continued to buy low-priced oil from Russia, rejecting the Biden administration’s proposal to replace Russian oil with U.S. supplies.
Senate Foreign Relations Committee member Ben Cardin, who backed Garcetti’s nomination, said: “India is a key player in global geopolitics and national security issues … We need a confirmed ambassador. I met with him, so I had the opportunity to hear what he had to say directly, I had the opportunity to check a lot of what he said, and I’m satisfied.”
The United States has not sent a full-time special envoy to India since early 2021, when the term of former US envoy Kenneth Juster ended. (Arnie)
(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from a Syndicated News feed, the content body may not have been modified or edited by LatestLY staff)
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