Appoint Powell successor soon, Indian American body urges Obama

An organization representing Indian Americans Tuesday hoped the next US envoy to India will be a senior person and that the appointment will be made soon.

The US India Political Action Committee (USINPAC), which claims to be the political voice of 2.7 million Indian-Americans, in a statement also thanked US Ambassador Nancy Powell for her service and urged US President Barack Obama to "appoint her successor at the earliest".

"Having a senior leader in New Delhi is vital to ironing out differences on some of the issues that have crept up between the two countries so that a purposeful new beginning is made to turbo-charge the relationship," the statement said.

"We are sure that the next ambassador appointed by President Obama shall be a person of senior and influential background -- either from the career diplomat services, or from public service," it said.

It said that India and the US can "together be the pillars of a stable and democratic world in the 21st century and jointly help solve many of the world's challenges, as well as benefit their own nations".

Pointing to the increase in bilateral trade from $24 billion in 2003 to $93 billion in 2012, it said with "the right political and trade policies, there is scope for US-India trade to cross $500 billion in the near future".

The USINPAC, a bipartisan organization, works to impact policy on issues of concern to the Indian-American community in the United States.

USINPAC has enhanced the community's presence and its issues on Capitol Hill and given Indian-Americans a stronger voice in the legislative process in a bipartisan manner.

USINPAC's activities focus on strengthening a grassroots network to work on issues concerning the community.