U.S. Ambassador to India

Ambassador of the United States of America to the Republic of India
Seal of the United States Department of State
Incumbent
Eric Garcetti
since May 11, 2023[1]
AppointerThe President
with the advice and consent of the Senate
Inaugural holderGeorge R. Merrell
(as Chargé d'affaires ad interim)
FormationNovember 1, 1946
Websitein.usembassy.gov

The United States ambassador to India is the chief diplomatic representative of United States in India. The U.S. ambassador's office is situated at the U.S. Embassy in New Delhi.

On March 15, 2023, Eric Garcetti was confirmed as ambassador. He was sworn in on March 24, 2023, and presented his credentials to President Droupadi Murmu on May 11, 2023.[2]

Chiefs of mission to India

U.S. ambassadors to the Dominion of India (1947–1950)

President George Washington, on November 19, 1792, nominated Benjamin Joy of Newbury Port as the first American Consul to Calcutta (present-day Kolkata) and later commissioned Joy to that office on November 21, 1792.[3]

Name Status Title Appointment Credentials
presented 		Termination
of mission 		Notes
Henry F. Grady Non-career appointee Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary April 10, 1947 July 1, 1947 Left post, June 22, 1948 Accredited also to Nepal; resident at New Delhi.
Loy W. Henderson Foreign Service officer Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary July 14, 1948 November 19, 1948 Re-accredited when India became a republic; presented new credentials February 24, 1950 Commissioned during a recess of the Senate; recommissioned after confirmation on March 2, 1949. Also accredited to Nepal; resident at New Delhi.

U.S. ambassadors to the Republic of India (1950–present)

Ambassador Richard Verma meeting with Maneka Gandhi in 2015
President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump with Ambassador Kenneth Juster at the U.S. Embassy in New Delhi in 2018
Name Status Title Appointment Credentials
presented 		Termination
of mission 		Notes
Loy W. Henderson Foreign Service officer Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary February 24, 1950 September 21, 1951 Reaccredited when India became a republic; presented new credentials Feb 24, 1950; left post Sep 21, 1951; commissioned during a recess of the Senate; recommissioned after confirmation on Mar 2, 1949. Also accredited to Nepal; resident at New Delhi.
Chester Bowles Non-career appointee Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary October 10, 1951 November 1, 1951 Left post, Mar 23, 1953 Also accredited to Nepal; resident at New Delhi.
George V. Allen Foreign Service officer Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary March 11, 1953 May 4, 1953 Left post, November 30, 1954 Also accredited to Nepal; resident at New Delhi.
John Sherman Cooper Non-career appointee Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary February 4, 1955 April 9, 1955 Left post, April 23, 1956 Also accredited to Nepal; resident at New Delhi.
Ellsworth Bunker Non-career appointee Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary November 28, 1956 March 4, 1957 Left India, March 23, 1961 Also accredited to Nepal; resident at New Delhi. Commissioned during a recess of the Senate; recommissioned after confirmation on January 25, 1957.
John Kenneth Galbraith Non-career appointee Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary March 29, 1961 April 18, 1961 Left post, Jul 12, 1963
Chester Bowles Non-career appointee Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary May 3, 1963 July 19, 1963 Left post, April 21, 1969
Kenneth B. Keating Non-career appointee Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary May 1, 1969 July 2, 1969 Left post, July 26, 1972
Daniel P. Moynihan Non-career appointee Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary February 8, 1973 February 28, 1973 Left post, January 7, 1975
William B. Saxbe Non-career appointee Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary February 3, 1975 March 8, 1975 Left post, November 20, 1976
Robert F. Goheen Non-career appointee Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary April 26, 1977 May 26, 1977 Left post, December 10, 1980
Harry G. Barnes Jr. Foreign Service officer Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary October 1, 1981 November 17, 1981 Left post, June 27, 1985
John Gunther Dean Foreign Service officer Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary August 2, 1985 September 6, 1985 Left post November 7, 1988
John R. Hubbard Non-career appointee Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary November 22, 1988 December 27, 1988 Left post November 15, 1989 Commissioned during a recess of the Senate.
William Clark Jr. Foreign Service officer Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary October 10, 1989 December 22, 1989 Left post, July 2, 1992
Thomas R. Pickering Foreign Service officer Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary April 6, 1992 August 14, 1992 Left post, March 23, 1993 Kenneth Brill served as Chargé d'affaires ad interim, March 1993 – August 1994.
Frank G. Wisner Foreign Service officer Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary June 9, 1994 August 2, 1994 Left post, July 12, 1997
Richard Frank Celeste Non-career appointee Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary November 10, 1997 November 28, 1997 Left post April 25, 2001
Robert Blackwill Non-career appointee Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary July 12, 2001 September 14, 2001 Left post July 31, 2003
David Campbell Mulford Non-career officer Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary December 12, 2003 February 23, 2004 Left post January 15, 2009[4]
Peter Burleigh Foreign Service officer[5] Chargé d'affaires January 15, 2009 August 11, 2009
Timothy J. Roemer Non-career appointee Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary July 23, 2009[6] August 11, 2009 Left post June 30, 2011
Peter Burleigh Foreign Service officer[5] Chargé d'affaires July 1, 2011 April 19, 2012
Nancy Jo Powell Foreign Service officer Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary February 7, 2012 April 19, 2012 May 21, 2014
Kathleen Stephens Foreign Service officer
(interim) 		Chargé d'affaires May 22, 2014 June 6, 2014[7] January 16, 2015 Assumed position after resignation of Nancy Jo Powell.
Richard Verma Non-career appointee Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary December 12, 2014 January 16, 2015 January 20, 2017 First U.S. Ambassador to India of Indian origin.[8]
MaryKay Carlson Foreign Service officer
(interim) 		Chargé d'affaires January 20, 2017 November 15, 2017 Assumed office after Ambassador Richard Verma demitted office following President Trump's inauguration on January 20.
Kenneth Juster Non-career appointee Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary November 3, 2017 November 23, 2017 January 20, 2021
Donald Heflin Foreign Service officer
(interim) 		Chargé d'affaires January 20, 2021 April 30, 2021 Minister-Counselor for Consular Affairs.[9]
Daniel Bennett Smith Foreign Service officer
(interim) 		Chargé d'affaires April 30, 2021 June 29, 2021 [10][11]
Atul Keshap Foreign Service officer
(interim) 		Chargé d'affaires June 29, 2021 September 9, 2021 [12]
Patricia A. Lacina Foreign Service officer
(interim) 		Chargé d'affaires September 9, 2021 October 24, 2022 [13]
A. Elizabeth Jones Foreign Service officer
(interim) 		Chargé d'affaires October 24, 2022 April 11, 2023 [14]
Eric Garcetti Non-career appointee Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary March 15, 2023 May 11, 2023 Present In July 2021, Joe Biden nominated Garcetti. When the nomination expired in 2023, Biden once again nominated Garcetti.

See also

References

  1. ^ "U.S. Ambassador to India Eric Garcetti Presents Credentials". U.S. Embassy & Consulates in India. May 11, 2023. Retrieved May 20, 2023.
  2. ^ "VP Kamala Harris swears in ex-LA Mayor Eric Garcetti as US ambassador to India". Los Angeles Daily News. March 24, 2023.
  3. ^ "U.S. Consulate General Kolkata". Archived from the original on October 25, 2015. Retrieved August 26, 2015.
  4. ^ "David Campbell Mulford - People - Department History - Office of the Historian".
  5. ^ a b "Albert Peter Burleigh - People - Department History - Office of the Historian". history.state.gov. Retrieved May 20, 2023.
  6. ^ "Obama names ambassador nominees". Retrieved May 20, 2023.
  7. ^ "United States Chargé d'Affaires, Ambassador Kathleen Stephens, Arrives in New Delhi". U.S. Embassy & Consulates in India. June 6, 2014. Retrieved May 20, 2023.
  8. ^ "Rich Verma confirmed as US ambassador to India - Hindustan Times". December 10, 2014. Archived from the original on December 10, 2014. Retrieved May 20, 2023.
  9. ^ Deputy chief of mission Edgard Kagan was appointed Senior Director for East Asia and Oceania at the U.S. National Seucity Council in January 2021.
  10. ^ "Appointment of Ambassador Daniel Smith as Chargé d'Affaires at Embassy New Delhi". United States Department of State. Retrieved August 12, 2021.
  11. ^ "Appointment of Ambassador Atul Keshap as Chargé d'Affaires at Embassy New Delhi". United States Department of State. Retrieved August 12, 2021.
  12. ^ Lakshman, Sriram; Haidar, Suhasini (June 29, 2021). "Seasoned South Asia diplomat Atul Keshap appointed next U.S. Chargé D'affaires in India". The Hindu. Retrieved July 5, 2021.
  13. ^ "Patricia Lacina assumes office as Chargé d'Affaires at US Embassy". Outlook India. Retrieved January 5, 2022.
  14. ^ "Appointment of Ambassador Elizabeth Jones as Chargé d'Affaires ad interim at Embassy New Delhi".

Sources

  • Brands, H. W. Inside the Cold War: Loy Henderson and the Rise of the American Empire 1918-1961 (1991) pp 196–230; Loy Henderson was US Ambassador, 1948–51

Primary sources

  • Bowles, Chester (1969). A View from New Delhi: Selected Speeches and Writings, 1963-1969. Yale U.P. ISBN 0300105460., US ambassador 1951-53 and 1963–69
  • Galbraith, John K. Ambassador's journal: a personal account of the Kennedy years (1969) online, he was US ambassador to India 1961-63
  • U.S. Department of State. Foreign Relations of the United States (FRUS), many volumes of primary sources; the complete texts of these large books are all online. See Guide to FRUS. For example, Foreign Relations of the United States, 1969–1976, Volume XI, South Asia Crisis, 1971 was published in 2005 and is online here. The most recent volumes are Foreign Relations of the United States, 1969–1976, Volume E–7, Documents on South Asia, 1969–1972 (2005) online here and Foreign Relations of the United States, 1969–1976, Volume E–8, Documents on South Asia, 1973–1976 (2007) online here. Included are the most important cables sent by the ambassador to Washington.

External links

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