The US Embassy in New Delhi has nominated Elizabeth Jones as its sixth interim Chargé d’Affaires in the past 21 months. Elizabeth Jones, 74, is the sixth temporary US representative to be asked to fill the position in the past 21 months (since January 2021). The position is only temporary until a permanent ambassador is confirmed by the US Congress.
Since the last US ambassador to India, Kenneth I. Juster, resigned in January 2021, following President Biden’s inauguration, Washington has posted five CDAs in its mission in Delhi: Don Heflin, Edgard Kagan, Daniel Smith, Atul Keshap, and Patricia A. Lacina. These individuals have worked hard to steer the relationship through several crises, including the start of the pandemic, and the standoff at the India-China border.
Need for a permanent ambassador in India-USA tie
In place of the president or other top officials, ambassadors represent the US government or the government of their home nation. Diplomats, a more general term for people who operate abroad while still being citizens of their own country, are also known as ambassadors.
With the Biden administration tightening its strategic embrace of India with the Quad summits and leveraging the partnership with New Delhi vis-à-vis China, the US-India relationship has taken a “definitive turn.” However, the absence of a full-time ambassador has undoubtedly “raised eyebrows” within India and its partners.
The former US representative Juster said, “the bilateral relationship cannot function at its highest level without a strong ambassador, who can fully understand the policy dynamics within India, assist in fostering understanding between the perspectives of each party, and communicate with nuance and clarity to the senior leadership back in Washington, D.C. Even those directly beneath Secretary (Antony) Blinken and (External Affairs) Minister Jaishankar in the respective capitals cannot fully and effectively manage all essential concerns.”
Washington must send someone here to routinely discuss major problems if the US is to move its security and defence cooperation with India forward.
Elizabeth Jones: sixth temporary US representative
To fill the position of Charge d’Affaires ad interim in New Delhi until a permanent ambassador is dispatched to India, the Biden administration has now named a senior US diplomat who had previously worked on NATO’s role in Europe vis-à-vis Russia as the US Assistant Secretary of State for Europe and Eurasia.
Jones has previously held the positions of Acting Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs and Deputy Special Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan under the Obama administration. She was chosen to serve as the Afghan relocation efforts coordinator in October 2021.
Elizabeth Jones throughout her career
From 2001 until 2005, Elizabeth Jones served as the Department of State’s Assistant Secretary for Europe and Eurasia, developing US policy for NATO and EU members, Russia, Ukraine, the Caucasus, and Central Asia. She oversaw 54 US diplomats and their embassies during Vladimir Putin’s first term as president of Russia.
Before that, she worked for the State Department’s Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs as the Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for Caspian Basin Energy Diplomacy (1998-2000). Jones served as Secretary of State Warren Christopher’s executive assistant and ambassador to the Republic of Kazakhstan from 1995 until 1998. (1993-94). She additionally held the position of Deputy Chief of Mission (DCM) at the US embassies in Islamabad and Bonn.
Elizabeth Jones stated that “NATO is an organization of like-minded countries, like-minded governments, this has been made evident via enlargement,” and that the problems facing the nations who have lately joined NATO are “nation-building,” “how to handle minorities,” democracy, and economic transformation.
She discussed US-Russia ties after 9/11 in an interview from 2002 at the Institute of International Studies, UC Berkeley, and stated that NATO’s initial objective is to “get the Russians comfortable with NATO and with an extended NATO.” She asserted that “NATO is no longer Russia’s enemy and Russia is no longer NATO’s enemy.”
Her employment at the US embassy in Islamabad coincided with the deaths of US Ambassador to Pakistan Arnold Raphel and Pakistan President Zia-ul-Haq in a plane crash in August 1988. She stated in the 2002 interview, “as it turned out, what I consider it to be was a bizarre technical failure of the aeroplane and an accident.”
According to a statement released by the US State Department on Tuesday, Ambassador Elizabeth Jones will be leaving for New Delhi to act as the interim Chargé d’Affaires. Secretary Blinken has referred to this collaboration as one of the most significant in the world, and Ambassador Jones will work with our Embassy and Consulate interagency teams in India to advance and broaden it.
Why there is a delay in the ambassador’s appointment
The Biden administration announced in July 2021 that Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti would serve as the country’s next ambassador.
However, the US Senate has not yet confirmed Garcetti’s candidacy. Due to claims of unethical behaviour by one of his top staff members, Republican Senator Chuck Grassley initially delayed his nomination. Even though the hold on his nomination has been lifted, Democrats are hesitant to bring it up for a vote on the Senate floor because they feel that they lack the necessary support. It is anticipated that the midterm elections in the US Congress will make it clear how the administration will proceed with the selection of the next US envoy.
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