January 10, 2021
2 mins read

Indian Americans fill Biden national security team

US President-elect Joe Biden, continuing to fill out top posts to align with a diverse country’s shifting demographics, on Friday appointed to his national security council “incredibly accomplished” Indian Americans who will serve under National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan.

Tarun Chhabra, a first-generation American and a graduate of Stanford University, Oxford University, and Harvard Law School, will serve as Senior Director for Technology and National Security. Sumona Guha, a graduate of Johns Hopkins and Georgetown University, has been appointed as Senior Director for South Asia and former journalist Shanthi Kalathil will be Coordinator for Democracy and Human Rights.

The Biden-Harris transition team sent out brief profiles of the new appointees. Below are excerpts on the three latest Indian American choices.

Tarun Chhabra is a Senior Fellow at the Center for Security and Emerging Technology at Georgetown University. He was previously a Fellow with the Project on International Order and Strategy at the Brookings Institution and a Visiting Fellow at the University of Pennsylvania’s Perry World House.

During the Obama-Biden administration, Chhabra served on the National Security Council staff as Director for Strategic Planning and Director for Human Rights and National Security Issues, and at the Pentagon as a speechwriter to the Secretary of Defence.
Sumona Guha was co-chair of the South Asia foreign policy working group on the Biden-Harris campaign, and serves on the transition’s State Department Agency Review Team. Guha is Senior Vice President at Albright Stonebridge Group.

Previously, she served in the State Department as a Foreign Service Officer and later, on the Secretary of State’s policy planning staff where she focused on South Asia. During the Obama-Biden administration, she was Special Advisor for national security affairs to Vice President Biden.

Shanthi Kalathil is currently senior director of the International Forum for Democratic Studies at the National Endowment for Democracy, where her work focuses on emerging challenges to democracy.

Previously in her career, she served as a senior democracy fellow at the US Agency for International Development, an associate with the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, a Hong Kong-based reporter for the Asian Wall Street Journal, and an advisor to international affairs organisations.

Kalathil is the co-author of Open Networks, Closed Regimes: The Impact of the Internet on Authoritarian Rule. Originally from California, Kalathil is a graduate of the University of California at Berkeley and the London School of Economics and Political Science.

Also Read-US charges 3 Sri Lankans in 2019 Easter Sunday terror attacks

Previous Story

US charges 3 Sri Lankans in 2019 Easter Sunday terror attacks

Next Story

Sabrina Singh named White House Deputy Press Secy

Latest from -Top News

Trinidad Eager to Deepen Ties with India: Envoy

Trinidad and Tobago, home to a large Indian-origin population—many of whom are now in their fifth and sixth generations—offered a unique cultural resonance to the visit….reports Asian Lite News Prime Minister Narendra

Labour peer David Lipsey found dead

In the House of Lords, Lord Lipsey was known for his dedication to social justice and his commitment to improving the lives of others The Labour peer, Lord David Lipsey, has been

UK Space Agency set to clean up space debris

Efforts to clean up space debris mark a pivotal step in the UK’s efforts to protect vital space infrastructure and ensure the long-term safety of the orbital environment The UK Space Agency

UK shuts both its Afghan resettlement schemes

According to the Ministry of Defence, the Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy has fulfilled its initial objective of supporting Afghans who worked alongside the UK military The government has announced the closure
Go toTop