Committed to getting Eric Garcetti as US envoy to New Delhi: White House

PTI

Washington, November 22

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 Los Angeles Mayor Garcetti as his Ambassador to India.

But the Senate confirmation of Garcetti has been pending for more than a year now. His nomination was initially blocked by Republican Senator Chuck Grassley because of allegations of inappropriate behaviour by one of his senior staffers.

Though the hold on his nomination has been lifted, the ruling Democrats are reluctant to bring his nomination for confirmation before the full Senate as they think they don't have enough votes for it.

Earlier this month, the White House had exuded confidence that Garcetti would be confirmed by the Senate. 

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