Key Senate committee votes in favour of Eric Garcetti's nomination as US Ambassador to India
Washington (PTI): Former Los Angles Mayor Eric Garcetti's nomination as US Ambassador to India cleared a major hurdle after a key senatorial committee voted to advance his name to the Senate floor for a full vote.
Garcetti's nomination was pending before the US Congress since July 2021, when he was nominated for the prestigious diplomatic posting by President Joe Biden.
His nomination was not brought to the Senate floor for a vote during the last Congress as the ruling Democratic Party did not have enough support to get the 52-year-old close aide of Biden through.
The Senate Foreign Relations Committee at its business meeting on Wednesday voted 13-8 in favour of the nomination of Garcetti. Now the nomination heads to the Senate floor for a full vote.
Two Republican Senators -- Todd Young and Bill Hagerty -- Wednesday afternoon voted in favour of Garcetti, joining the Democratic lawmakers and passing the nomination through the Senatorial committee.
Garcetti wasn't confirmed in Biden's first two years in office amid concerns by some lawmakers that the then-mayor hadn't adequately handled allegations against a former senior adviser of sexual assault and harassment. Biden renominated Garcetti to the same position in January this year.
Top Republican Senator Chuck Grassley this week called for voting against him.
Republican Senator Young defended his decision to vote in favour of Garcetti.
"It's in our national security interest to have an ambassador immediately in place in India in order to balance China, work with the US throughout the Indo-Pacific...He has an imperfect resume, but the skills to succeed in this capacity," Young said.
"We must ensure that any chief of the mission will, without question, protect our foreign service officers and embassy staff from all types of harassment," said Senator Jim Risch, Ranking member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
The White House continues to have full confidence in Garcetti. Last week it told reporters that Garcetti is qualified to serve as the US ambassador to India.
The State Department said it was in America's national interest to have a confirmed Ambassador to India, an important country for the US.
"There is no other country around the world that would put itself in a position to have a vacancy open in a strategically important and valuable place like India for two plus years now," State Department Spokesperson Ned Price told reporters after the vote.
"We certainly hope that the action that the Senate took today foretells additional action. It would be in our interest, it would be in the interest of India, and it would be in the interest of both of our people to have a confirmed ambassador in place. We hope that mayor and soon-to-be Ambassador Garcetti is able to take up that post before long," Price said.
Applauding the vote of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Price said the United States needs a confirmed ambassador in India.
"Our team on the ground, including charges who have served in the place of an ambassador have done extraordinary work. But this is one of the most consequential bilateral relationships we have," he said.
"When Secretary (of State Antony) Blinken was in New Delhi last week, much of the breadth and the depth of that relationship was on full display. Our embassy staff, our mission India deserves to have a Senate-confirmed ambassador who is, again with the consent of the Senate, a representative of not only the Secretary of State, but also the president of the United States," Price said.
Kenneth Juster, the last occupant of the ambassadorial residence of the US in New Delhi, stepped down in January 2021 after the change of government in America.
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Suvendu Adhikari says Bangladesh should be taught a “lesson like Israel taught Gaza”
Kolkata: Bharatiya Janata Party leader and Leader of Opposition in the West Bengal Legislative Assembly Suvendu Adhikari has sparked controversy after stating that Bangladesh should be taught a “lesson like Israel has taught Gaza.”
Adhikari made the remark while speaking to reporters outside the Bangladesh Deputy High Commission in Kolkata on Friday, December 26. “These people must be taught a lesson, just like Israel taught Gaza. Our 100 crore Hindus and the government working in the interest of Hindus must teach them a lesson just as we taught Pakistan a lesson in Operation Sindoor,” he said.
The statement came amid protests being held outside the Bangladesh Deputy High Commission since December 22, following the lynching of Dipu Chandra Das, a 27-year-old garment factory worker in Bangladesh. Das was killed on December 18 in the Mymensingh district, where his body was allegedly hung from a tree and set on fire in public view.
Adhikari was part of a five-member delegation that met senior officials of the Bangladesh Deputy High Commission on Friday. Speaking after the meeting, he claimed that the diplomats had “no answer to most of his questions” related to the killing and the situation of minorities in Bangladesh.
Reacting to his comments, the All India Trinamool Congress accused the BJP of promoting hate and intolerance. In a post on X, the party described Adhikari’s remarks as hate speech and alleged that they amounted to a call for violence, while also questioning the absence of legal action against him.
Adhikari’s statement has added to political tensions in West Bengal and raised concerns over inflammatory rhetoric linked to sensitive international and communal issues.
The @BJP4India’s Bengal ‘face’ wants a Gaza like operation against Bangladesh. Dog whistles that the @narendramodi government is for ‘Hindus’ only. Do you concur with this @narendramodi @DrSJaishankar ? Dirty politics of Divide and Rule won’t work in Bengal, @SuvenduWB pic.twitter.com/vLWm9b3AXb
— Sagarika Ghose (@sagarikaghose) December 27, 2025
