Eric Garcetti confirmed as US ambassador to India

Garcetti has studied Hindi and worked with Indians “on everything from energy to ports to culture and urbanization”

Eric Garcetti, a former mayor of Los Angeles, is set to be the new US ambassador to India with his Senate confirmation two years after President Joe Biden first nominated him for the key post.

Garcetti was confirmed Wednesday by a vote of 52 to 42, with seven Republicans joining all but three Democratic senators — Mazie K. Hirono, Sherrod Brown and Mark Kelly — in approving him for the top diplomatic post in New Delhi.

Read: Biden nominates Los Angeles Mayor Eric M. Garcetti as US ambassador to India (July 9, 2021)

Garcetti’s confirmation had languished for two years amid allegations that he mishandled workplace misconduct and sexual harassment. Garcetti has consistently denied the accusations, and the White House has dismissed them as partisan attacks.

The New York Times described it as a “victory for President Biden, who stuck by his political ally in the face of the allegations and the prolonged process that has left the United States without a permanent envoy in one of the world’s most populous and geopolitically important democracies.”

“President Biden believes that we have a crucial and consequential partnership with India and that Mayor Garcetti will make a strong and effective Ambassador,” Olivia Dalton, Principal Deputy Press Secretary White House told an Indian News outlet.

“The United States-India relationship is extremely important,” Senator Chuck Schumer, Democrat of New York and the majority leader, told the Times. “It’s a very good thing we now have an ambassador.

Garcetti told the Times Wednesday that he never considered withdrawing his name from contention and that Biden had encouraged him to stay the course, despite the delays.

Read: White House wants Garcetti confirmed as envoy to India (March 3, 2023)

“I had check-ins with the president, and he was 100 percent behind me,” Garcetti was quoted as saying. “They said, ‘We believe in you and we want you here.’ They said, ‘It’s going to take some hard work, but we think you should serve.’”

The Senate Foreign Relations Committee last week approved Garcetti’s nomination with the support of two Republicans, Senators Todd Young and Bill Hagerty.

“This whole delay has hurt our ability to deepen our strategic partnership with India,” said Indian American Representative Ro Khanna, Democrat of California, a co-chair of the Congressional India Caucus. “I am looking forward to working with Eric to strengthen our ties to India at a time we face Putin’s war and heightened tensions with Xi Jinping.”

Garcetti told the Times Wednesday that the process was “a long road, but a great destination,” noting that he studied Hindi in college and that as mayor he worked with his Indian counterparts “on everything from energy to ports to culture and urbanization.”

“I think I was in tears at the end. There were times it was trying, but I always understood the political process takes time,” he said.

Read: The U.S. is sending an ambassador to India after leaving the job vacant for 26 months (March 16, 2023)

Congratulating Garcetti on his confirmation, M R Rangaswami, founder-chairman of Indiaspora, said Garcetti showed his resilience and commitment to the India-US relationship through his tough confirmation.

“(We are) relieved and also excited that someone like Eric (Garcetti) is going to be there (in India) building on the relationship,” he said.