46-year-old Richard Verma is the first-ever Indian American to occupy the top US Diplomatic post in New Delhi. He is scheduled to arrive in India next month. Richard Rahul Verma’s appointment was confirmed by the US Senate by a voice vote last week.
Verma played a key role in the passage of civil nuclear deal with India during the tenure of Dr. Manmohan Singh as the Prime Minister. His family went to the US in the early 1960s and settled there. He even worked with Obama during the presidential debate preparations in 2008.
He will replace Nancy Powell, who resigned in March following the diplomatic tussle between India and the US over the arrest and strip search of Indian diplomat Devyani Khobragade over visa fraud charges.