Time to have separate India Office at State Department: report

From Lalit K Jha
Washington, Jul 22 (PTI) With the rapid expansion of
India-US ties, which are expected to deepen in the coming
years, it is time to upgrade the India Desk at the South and
Central Asia Bureau of the State Department to a full fledged
India Office, an official report has said.
In its latest report, the State Department's Inspector
General has also recommended the reunion of the South and
Central Asia Bureau with that Office of the Special
Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan (SRAP) that was
carved out when US President Barack Obama appointed Richard
Holbrooke as his point man for Afghanistan and Pakistan. But,
such a move only created duplicity, it said.
Currently the India desk is combined with the desks
for five other countries, including Bangladesh. But, the
report said it is the practice of the Department of State to
provide a separate office for the countries with which the
United States has robust, complex relationships.
"Nations of comparable importance and with important
bilateral relationships, such as China (including Mongolia),
Russia, Cuba, Canada, Japan, Korea, Mexico, Afghanistan, and
Pakistan, have their own offices," it said.
The Inspector General concluded that time has come to
give serious consideration to creating a separate office for
India and Bhutan, alongside a separate office for the other
countries in SCA/INSB office.
"Over the last 15 years, the US relationship with
India has both expanded and deepened, but no action has been
taken to adjust the design of organisational units to
accommodate the changed situation," it pointed out.