‘Committed to getting Eric Garcetti as US envoy'
THE Biden administration is committed to getting Eric Garcetti as the US envoy to New Delhi, the White House has said, hoping that the Senate will confirm his nomination soon.
Garcetti, 51, has been Mayor of Los Angeles since 2013. He is a close aide of President Joe Biden.
‘India is a very important relationship that we have. You saw the President (Biden) greet and meet very briefly with Prime Minister (Narendra) Modi just last week when he was in Bali. So clearly, it's an important relationship that we truly respect,' White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters here on Monday.
She exuded confidence that the presidential nominee for the US Ambassador to India, Garcetti, would be soon confirmed by the Senate. The nomination has been pending before the upper chamber of the US Congress for more than a year now.
‘As for Mayor Garcetti, we are committed to getting him through the process. We're continuing to talk to the Senate about making that happen. That is a priority of ours,' Jean-Pierre said.
In July 2021, US President Biden nominated Garcetti as his Ambassador to India.
Garcetti, however, could not take up his assignment in New Delhi as his nomination has not been confirmed by the US Senate. He was accused of being aware of alleged sexual misconduct of his top aide Rick Jacobs.
Garcetti denies the allegation. The Biden administration last month appointed Elizabeth Jones as the new acting envoy of Washington to New Delhi.