NEW DELHI : Ahead of high profile visit of US President Barrack Obama to India on the Republic day, new US Ambassador in New Delhi Richard Verma today arrived to take charge of the Mission.
He will continue the US Mission’s work in advancing the US-India strategic partnership, the US embassy said in a statement.
Mr Obama would be the chief guest in the Republic Day parade on January 26.
Mr Verma said, “I am honoured to serve as US Ambassador to India at such an exciting time in our bilateral relationship. I look forward to meeting the Indian people and working together with the Indian government on our shared goals of security, development and prosperity.”
Mr Verma is a former Assistant Secretary of State for Legislative Affairs. From 2009-11, he served as a principal advisor to US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. He led the state department’s budget and policy efforts on Capitol Hill, handled more than 200 Senate confirmations and managed several major congressional investigations. He was also the administration’s lead negotiator with Congress on Iran sanctions and the ratification of the new start Treaty.
Recently, Mr Verma served as a senior counsellor at both Steptoe & Johnson and the Albright Stonebridge Group, where his practice focused on international law and global regulatory compliance.
Earlier in his career, Mr Verma served in the Senate as the senior national security advisor to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid. He also worked in the House of Representatives for Defence Appropriations Committee Chairman Jack Murtha. Formerly, a country director for the National Democratic Institute for International Affairs in Eastern Europe, Mr Verma was a senior National Security Fellow at the Center for American Progress, a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, and served on the boards of the Clinton Foundation, Human Rights First, and the National Democratic Institute. Mr Verma served on active duty in the US Air Force from 1994 to 1998. He received his LLM with distinction from Georgetown University Law Center, and his JD cum laude from American University’s Washington College of Law. He holds a BS from Lehigh University.
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