Mumbai-born strategic expert Ashley J Tellis, who had played an important role in the inking of the India-US nuclear deal nearly a decade back, could be US president-elect Donald Trump's nominee to be the next US ambassador to India, The Washington Post reported on Monday.


The report said: "Transition sources said Trump is close to selecting Ashley Tellis, a former White House official and renowned India expert, to be the next US ambassador to India."


The report said the appointment would be part of Trump administration's focus on Asia, and a more hawkish line on China that would see the US forge stronger alliances with its partners in the region.


In case Tellis becomes the next occupant of the Roosevelt House in New Delhi's Chanakyapuri, he would be succeeding Richard Verma, also an Indian-American.


On Sunday night, Verma, the 25th US ambassador to India, tweeted after a meeting with actor Amitabh Bachchan that he would depart on January 20, the day of Trump's inauguration as the next US president.


Tellis is currently a senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, a Washington-based think tank. He is also known to have been a supporter of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's efforts at strengthening India-US relations, and had met the PM when the think tank opened its India chapter in April 2016.


Tellis is well-known among India's foreign policy leaders, including foreign secretary S Jaishankar. The two had played important roles in negotiating the India-US nuclear deal.


According to his profile on the Carnegie Endowment website, Tellis has served as senior advisor to US ambassador Robert Blackwill and has been National Security Council special assistant to the US president.

Archis Mohan/Business Standard


Read our 2016 interview with Ashley Tellis here.
Also read the 2015 interview with Tellis here.

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