After a wait of over two years, India will receive a full-fledged Ambassador from the US. Eric Garcetti, a fellow Californian, was sworn in as the next US Ambassador to India on Friday by US Vice President.
Harris wrote on Twitter immediately after the swearing-in event, “Ambassador Garcetti is a committed public servant and will play a critical role in strengthening our partnership with the people of India.”
The South and Central Asian Affairs division of the US State Department thanked Garcetti and expressed the hope that the move would help to strengthen the US-India alliance, which it called “one of the most significant in the world.”
India has already expressed its satisfaction with the US Senate’s confirmation of Garcetti and stated that it looks forward to cooperating with him to further the complex bilateral relations.
“We applaud Eric Garcetti’s appointment as the US ambassador to India. We look forward to working with him to further the complex bilateral relations, said Arindam Bagchi, a spokeswoman for the External Affairs Ministry, at a media conference.
Numerous businesspeople, legislators, and Indian-American merchants involved in the Indo-US commerce scene also supported Garcetti’s nomination.
Garcetti, who has been the mayor of Los Angeles since 2013, spent 12 years as an intelligence officer in the US Navy Reserve Component, including time spent with the Pacific Fleet and the Defense Intelligence Agency.
He served on the City Council for a dozen years and was in charge of one of the busiest airports in the world, the busiest container port in the Western Hemisphere, and the biggest municipal utility in the nation. He spearheaded LA’s successful effort to bring the summer Olympic Games back to the United States after a three-decade absence.