Eric Garcetti’s nomination as India ambassador advances in US Senate

Washington: More than two years into President Joe Biden’s administration, the United States (US) Senate Foreign Relations Committee (SFRC) advanced the confirmation process for Biden’s nominee for ambassador to India, former Los Angeles mayor Eric Garcetti on Wednesday for a second time

Washington: More than two years into President Joe Biden’s administration, the United States (US) Senate Foreign Relations Committee (SFRC) advanced the confirmation process for Biden’s nominee for ambassador to India, former Los Angeles mayor Eric Garcetti on Wednesday for a second time. Garcetti’s nomination will now move to the Senate floor.

Eric Garcetti (AP)

Biden renominated Garcetti for the job in January after his confirmation got stuck in the last Congress due to allegations that he had ignored sexual harassment allegations against a close aide. The US has not had an ambassador in Delhi since January 2021, the longest ever period of diplomatic vacuum at this level from Washington’s end in the history of the India-US bilateral relationship.

To be sure, the SFRC vote does not mean Garcetti has been confirmed — but it was a necessary condition for the confirmation and has opened the doors for the US to finally have an envoy. The administration has welcomed the move, while acknowledging, in an implicit admission of divisions and politics coming in way of legislative confirmations of executive nominees, that no other country would leave a position vacant in a place such as India for so long.

On Wednesday, the SFRC voted 13 to 8 in favour of Garcetti, with two Republican Senators, Todd Young and Bill Haggerty, joining ranks with their Democratic colleagues in advancing the nomination. Both Senators are active on Indo-Pacific issues, critical of China, and see India as an important partner. Young said, “It’s in our national security interest to have an ambassador immediately in place in India in order to balance China, work with the US throughout the Indo-Pacific...He has an imperfect resume, but the skills to succeed in this capacity.”

But the committee’s ranking member, Republican Jim Risch, opposed the nomination, saying that “new evidence” had led to him reconsidering his earlier decision to support Garcetti. Questioning Garcetti’s “judgment”, Risch said, “we must ensure that any chief of mission will, without question, protect our foreign service officers and embassy staff from all types of harassment.”

This is the second time the SFRC has forwarded Garcetti’s nomination to the Senate floor. Senate majority leader Chuck Schumer, who recently visited New Delhi, has said that he will take it up soon. The fact that two Republicans supported Garcetti’s nomination has given the administration confidence that it has some leeway to push through the confirmation on the floor, even if some Democrats oppose it. Garcetti will need 51 votes in the 100-member Senate to get confirmed.

Commenting on the vote, State Department spokesperson Ned Price said that they “heartily applaud” it. “Put simply, the United States needs a confirmed ambassador in India. Our team on the ground, including chargés who have served in the place of an ambassador, have done extraordinary work. But this is one of the most consequential bilateral relationships we have.” Price said that the embassy staff and US mission in India deserve to have a Senate-confirmed ambassador who is a representative of not only the Secretary of State but also the President of the US.

“There is no other country around the world that would put itself in a position to have a vacancy open in a strategically important and valuable place like India for two-plus years now. We certainly hope that the action that the Senate took today foretells additional action. It would be in our interest. It would be in the interest of India. It would be in the interests of both of our people to have a confirmed ambassador in place,” said Price, expressing the hope that Garcetti would be able to take up the position soon.

The White House has stood steadfast behind Garcetti, who was a key member of Biden’s campaign team and played a role in selecting Kamala Harris as the President’s running mate.