20 Indians in Biden's Cabinet till Now. What does it mean to India?

Ahead of the historic inauguration scheduled just two days from now, US President-elect Joe Biden has either nominated or named at least 20 Indian Americans. Biden’s tenure as the 46^th President of the US is already historic with a woman being the first ever Vice President of the country. Kamala Harris, who is an Indian-American, will be sworn as the Vice President of the country soon.

Yet Biden’s cabinet is going to script another history with 20 Indian Americans in his cabinet. Of those named, 13 are women who are likely to hold key positions in his administration. And 17 of the 20 will be a part of the powerful White House complex. But this is not all. We can hear of more Indian-American being roped into his presidential administration as he still is quite far from filling all the positions in his administration.

So let’s take a look at some of the Indian-American nominees. While Neera Tanden is nominated as Director of the White House Office of Management & Budget (a very powerful position), Dr. Vivek Murhty has been nominated as the US Surgeon General. Vanita Gupta (associate attorney general Department of Justice), former foreign service official Uzra Zeya (under secretary of state for civilian security, democracy and human rights), Mala Adiga (policy director to the future First Lady Dr. Jill Biden), Garima Verma (digital director of the Office of the First Lady), Sabrina Singh (First Lady’s deputy press secretary), Aisha Shah (partnership manager at the White House Office of Digital Strategy), Sameera Fazili (deputy director at the US National Economic Council in the White House), Bharat Ramamurti (deputy director of White House National Economic Council), Gautam Raghavan (deputy director in Office of Presidential Personnel).

Vinay Reddy (director speechwriting), Vedant Patel (White House lower press as assistant press secretary to the President), Tarun Chhabra (senior director for technology and national security), Sumona Guha (senior director for South Asia), Shanthi Kalathil (coordinator for democracy and human rights), Sonia Aggarwal (senior advisor for climate policy and innovation in the Office of the Domestic Climate Policy at the White House), Vidur Sharma (policy advisor for testing for the White House COVID-19 Response team), Neha Gupta (associate counsel), and Reema Shah (deputy associate counsel).  

US and India – The Relation

During Trump’s tenure, the India-US political trajectory has been ever expanding and ever strengthening, especially the security relations between the two countries have accelerated. Together, the two countries have done much to check Chinese expansion policy, whether it’s political or business. Trump even addressed India’s emergence as a leading global power and stronger strategic and defense partner. However, with what happened in the Capitol city in the recent times post Biden’s win was a sad picture. But how the country reacts and what moves the Biden government takes to put back the US on the global superpower position is all we need to wait and watch.

However, one piece of this puzzle is how the relationship between the US and India emerge and further strengthen under the Biden’s presidency. And with 20 Indian American on Biden’s administration, despite the diaspora making just one percent of the total population there, it seems that Biden is going to emphasize further on strengthening and deepening the relationship between the two countries. As the two countries converse in the areas of ensuring free and unfettered access to the maritime commons, disaster relief, counter piracy and counterterrorism.

The fact that Kamala Harris is connected to India, will also play a major role in creating a strong bond between the two countries.

India also looks at more reasons to celebrate the strengthening relationship, with better trade deals, human rights, extending visa regimes and India’s permanent membership in the UN’s Security Council. With more to come in the days and strengthening further, Biden should be careful to not push India to the edge in order to gain more relevance in the international politics. It is important to note that India is playing an important role in the South Asia policy and is not the old yet-rising country. India has indeed created a dominance in the space through international trade & policies, and with the friendly-ties it has with several countries globally.

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