Explained: Why there's been no full-time US envoy in India in 21 months

The United States State Department on Tuesday (October 25) announced the appointment of yet another Chargé d’Affaires ad interim for India, filling a key diplomatic post that has been vacant for nearly two years — it’s the longest that the US has been without a full-time envoy in India since 1950.

Elizabeth Jones, who is currently the coordinator for Afghan relocation efforts, has been asked to step in for the job. She is the sixth interim US envoy in the last 21 months. Currently, Patricia A Lacina is the Chargé d’Affaires at the US Embassy in New Delhi. She assumed charge on September 9, 2021.

The US ambassador position has remained vacant since January 2021, when President Joe Biden took office. Jones, 74, has been named as the next Charge d’Affaires ad interim until the government names a full-time Ambassador to India; the US administration’s bid to send a full-time ambassador to the country continues to remain stuck at the Senate.

“Ambassador Elizabeth Jones will be departing for New Delhi to serve as Chargé d’Affaires, ad interim… In India, Ambassador Jones will join our Embassy and Consulate interagency teams in advancing and expanding the partnership between our governments and people, a partnership that Secretary (Antony) Blinken has called one of the most consequential in the world,” an official statement from a spokesperson of the US State Department Tuesday said.

Who were the previous interim US envoys?

In the past 21 months, since the last US Ambassador to India Kenneth I Juster departed following the inauguration of the Biden administration on January 20, 2021, Washington has posted five interim envoys in its mission in Delhi — Don Heflin, Edgard Kagan, Daniel Bennett Smith, Atul Keshap and Patricia A Lacina. They tried hard to steer US-India relationship through several crises — from the onset of the pandemic and the India-China border standoff to the Russia-Ukraine war.

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Senior US officials such as Under Secretary of State Victoria Nuland and Assistant Secretary Donald Lu have made visits to New Delhi, but the absence of a full-time ambassador ever since the Biden administration took charge, has had an impact on the ties between the two countries.

Since the lack of an ambassador is often seen as a slight or a downgrade in ties, the bureaucracies and the political leadership on both sides have got to address this absence of a regular envoy in order to strengthen strategic communication at a time when they are both navigating the minor turbulence in their relationship due to the Ukraine war; the US wants to make India its ally as it takes China and Russia head-on.

Why is the decision on the new US ambassador in limbo?

The decision on the position of the new US ambassador to India has been stuck as the nomination of Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti has not got the approval from the US Senate. While Garcetti’s name was announced in July 2021, his nomination was initially blocked by Republican Senator Chuck Grassley over allegations of inappropriate behaviour by one of his senior staffers. Though the hold on his nomination has been lifted, the Democrats are unwilling to put his nomination to vote on the Senate floor as they believe they do not have enough votes.

The legislative and bureaucratic process has been in limbo even as the Biden administration has almost reached the half-way mark. The US administration’s next steps on the appointment of the new US envoy will be clear after the mid-term polls in the US Congress.

Jones takes over at a time when the US wants to make India its ally as it takes China and Russia head-on. The statement from the US State Department also said that the US-India partnership is one of the “most consequential in the world.” However, such an expression has failed to be translated into action by the Biden administration that has appointed its envoys across the entire South Asian region, but not in India as yet.

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Why is a full-time US envoy necessary?

A full-time US envoy is important for both New Delhi and Washington at a time when the India-US relationship has taken a “definitive turn” with the two countries strengthening strategic ties under Quad, a four-nation bloc that also includes Japan and Australia; the US wants to leverage the partnership with New Delhi vis-à-vis China. In a statement released on Monday (October 24), Secretary of State Antony Blinken described the US-India partnership as the “most consequential in the world”.

With an eye on Beijing, the US has been striving to deepen its cooperation with India, a central cog in Washington’s Indo-Pacific strategy. India is also a member of the US-led Indo-Pacific Economic Framework, established to mitigate the effects of China’s economic “coercion” of neighbouring Southeast Asian nations. The absence of a full-time envoy in such an important country could prove detrimental to US interests in the region, say experts.

The Biden administration sent ambassador Donald Blome as Pakistan envoy in April this year. While ambassador Peter Haas was sent to Dhaka in December 2021, ambassador Julie Chung joined the US embassy in Sri Lanka in February this year. Earlier this month, the US President sent ambassador Dean R. Thompson in Nepal.

When Juster had taken over the post of the US envoy in India in November 2017, not only did India and the US come closer in an unprecedented manner under the Indo-Pacific strategic conduct, his tenure also witnessed the revival of Quad. Therefore, it is imperative that the US appoints a full-time ambassador to India to make its diplomatic ties with the Asian country robust.