Eric Garcetti, US Ambassador-Designate, arrives in India

New Delhi: More than two years after the departure of the last US representative Kenneth Juster when Joe Biden assumed the presidency of the United States, US Ambassador-designate Eric Garcetti arrived in India on Tuesday night. Garcetti, who is regarded as a close associate of Biden, was confirmed to the position by the US Senate about a month ago.

Over two years ago, the former mayor of Los Angeles received a nomination for a high-profile position of ambassador to India.

But the nomination was not confirmed by the Senate earlier following concerns by some lawmakers that Garcetti, as the then Los Angeles mayor, had not adequately handled allegations of sexual assault and harassment against one of his aides.

“Namaste, Ambassador-Designate Eric Garcetti! We’re thrilled to welcome you to #IncredibleIndia and work with you to build even stronger ties between our two great nations,” the US Embassy in India tweeted.

The Embassy has been without an ambassador since January 2021, perhaps the longest such stretch in the history of US-India relations.

Juster, the last US envoy to New Delhi, stepped down in January 2021 after Biden became the US president.

Garcetti is known as a committed public servant, educator, and diplomat. He was confirmed in a bipartisan vote as the 25th US Ambassador to India on March 15.

After serving 12 years as a Los Angeles city council member, Garcetti was elected as the 42nd Mayor of Los Angeles in 2013.

He was then the youngest mayor in Los Angeles history and was re-elected in 2017 with the widest margin ever recorded in the city.

Garcetti also served as a naval officer in the reserve component for 12 years and was selected as Rockefeller Next Generation Leadership Fellow, an inaugural Asia 21 Fellow of the Asia Society, a Young Fellow of the French-American Foundation, a Rodel Fellow at the Aspen Institute, and a Reboot Fellow. In 2005, he was awarded the New Frontier Award given each year by the Kennedy family and Kennedy Library to a young elected official who embodies President Kennedy’s vision of service.

Garcetti earned a BA degree at Columbia College, Columbia University as a John Jay Scholar.

Garcetti studied Hindi and Indian culture and history while at Columbia and went on to earn a Master’s degree at Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs. After graduating, Garcetti was selected as a Rhodes Scholar, studying at The Queen’s College, Oxford and the London School of Economics and Political Science.

While in England, he met his now-wife Amy Elaine Wakeland, who was a fellow member of his Rhodes Scholar class.

With PTI inputs