Biden appoints Kashmiri-origin Sameera Fazili to NEC

New York: Kashmir has a proud moment to rejoice as Sameera Fazili, who traces her family's roots to the valley, is among the latest wave of Indian American nominees to be named to US president Joe Biden's A-team. Fazili has been appointed as Deputy Director, National Economic Council.

Days before the new administration takes over, Fazili's profile made it to the landing page of the White House Senior Staff on the Biden transition website. She joins more than a dozen Indian Americans nominated or appointed to senior level positions in the incoming administration.

Earlier this week, Biden's transition team put out a thick paragraph introducing Fazili and her professional work prior to joining the Biden team. Fazili was at the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta where she served as the Director of Engagement for Community and Economic Development. In the Obama-Biden Administration, Fazili served as a senior policy advisor on the White House's National Economic Council and as a senior advisor at the US Treasury Department in both Domestic Finance and International Affairs. Prior to that she was a clinical lecturer of law at Yale Law School.

Originally from Buffalo, she now lives in Georgia with her husband and three children. Fazili is a graduate of Yale Law School and Harvard College. Sameera Fazili is the daughter of a Kashmir-born doctor couple, Muhammad Yusuf Fazili and Rafiqa Fazili, originally from the Gojwara area.

The appointment on Thursday sparked off celebrations among her extended family in Srinagar, according to the Hindu.

Fazili's cousin Shuja Durrani described her appointment as "Kashmir's proud moment".

(Based on IANS feed)