Trump nominates Kenneth Juster as US envoy to India

President Donald Trump has nominated Kenneth Juster, a top economic aide and one of the key architects of the historic Indo-US civil nuclear agreement, to be the next US ambassador to India. 

Trump sent Juster’s nomination to US Senate and a confirmation hearing is likely soon.

Juster, 62, played a key role in enhancing Indo-US ties under the Bush administration. He would replace Richard Verma as the top American diplomat to India if his name were confirmed.

The position has been vacant since January 20, after Verma put in his papers, as Trump took over as US president. Juster served as the undersecretary of commerce for industry and security from 2001 to 2005 and was also the deputy assistant to Trump for international economic affairs and deputy director of the National Economic Council from January this year.

In the private sector, he has been a partner at investment firm Warburg Pincus LLC, executive vice-president at Salesforce.com, and senior partner at the law firm Arnold & Porter. He has also served as chairman of Harvard University's Weatherhead Center for International Affairs, and as vice-chairman of The Asia Foundation.

Juster holds a law degree from Harvard Law School, a master's degree in public policy from the John F Kennedy School of Government at Harvard, and a bachelor's degree in government from Harvard College.

Last Friday, the president had announced his intent to nominate Juster as his top envoy to India. He sent the nomination to the Senate yesterday.