By Sabir Shah
LAHORE: Following the swearing-in of Kamala Harris as the US Vice President, numerous media houses in India are euphoric over the appointment of at least 20 other Indian-Americans, outnumbering the Americans of Pak origin, to key positions in President Joe Biden s administration.
However, Kamala Harris, President Joe Biden s Secretary of State Antony Blinken, and Secretary of Defense, General (retired) Lloyd Austin, have so far aired positive, yet carefully-worded, statements about Pakistan, India and the ever-worsening situation in Held Kashmir.
These statements, before and after Biden s election to Oval Office, should thus make many neutral political pundits believe a faint wind of optimism has perhaps started blowing for the good, besides giving bleeding Kashmiris a glimmer of hope that they might now be heard better by more receptive and sympathetic ears in Washington DC.
US President Joe Biden excludes Democrats with RSS-BJP links
The names like Sonal Shah and Amit Jani have not made it to Joe Biden’s list of nominated Indian-Americans to be appointed in his administration.
US President Joe Biden (File image: Reuters)
US President Joe Biden has nominated at least 20 Indian-Americans, including 13 women, to key positions in his administration, a record for the small ethnic community that constitutes one percent of America s population. However, the list has so far excluded some Indo-Americans who worked on the Biden campaign, allegedly due to their RSS-BJP links.
The names like Sonal Shah and Amit Jani have not made to Biden’s list of nominated Indian-Americans to be appointed in his administration. The two Obama administration staffers have so far been excluded allegedly due to their links with the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), reported The Tribune.
For the first time ever 20 Indian-Americans, including 13 women, nominated to key positions
Washington: Democrat
Joe Biden took charge as the 46th President of the United States of America on Jan. 20. While the transfer of power was not peaceful in the world’s oldest Constitutional Republic, that transfer did occur on Wednesday on the West Front of the US Capitol.
Biden swore the Presidential oath on a bulging century-old family Bible moments after Kamala Devi Harris officially became America’s first woman Vice-President. “Democracy is precious, democracy is fragile and at this hour, my friends, democracy has prevailed,” Biden said before a National Mall that was virtually empty due to the ultra-tight security and a raging COVID-19 pandemic that he vowed to confront swiftly.
DNA Special: Meet the Indian-Americans in Joe Biden-Kamala Harris administration
Joe Biden s team also includes 20 people of Indian origin the largest-ever number of Indians origin people in any US President s team.
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Updated: Jan 20, 2021, 06:11 AM IST
In less than 24 hours from now, 78-year-old Joe Biden will assume office as America s 46th President and Kamala Harris will take oath as the first woman Vice President. Though the event will be much different from that of past years due to coronavirus pandemic, one thing will be the same - the date. January 20 has been the date of the swearing-in since 1937, when Franklin D Roosevelt took oath of office for his second term. Interestingly, Biden s team also includes 20 people of Indian origin the largest-ever number of Indians origin people in any US President s team.
Who are the Indian-Americans in US President Joe Biden s administration
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Who are the Indian-Americans in US President Joe Biden s administration
TIMESOFINDIA.COM / Updated: Jan 20, 2021, 23:04 IST
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A Biden-Harris banner hangs in front of the White House ahead of inauguration. (Credit: AFP)
NEW DELHI: For the first time in the US history, more than 20 Indian-Americans have either been appointed or nominated to be part of the US government with as many as 17 of them in key positions.
On Wednesday, as President Joe Biden takes oath as 46th President of the USA alongside vice-president elect Kamala Harris, who too has roots in India, here is a list of Indian-Americans announced to be a part of Biden s administration: