Eric Garcetti: Biden taps Los Angeles Mayor as ambassador to India, report says

President still to confirm some of his key diplomatic appointments

President Joe Biden has selected Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti as the United States’s ambassador to India, the Associated Press reports.

Additionally, Mr Biden was reportedly selecting former senior State Department official Nicholas Burns to serve as his ambassador to China, according to the report, which cited a person familiar with the matter.

No information was given as to when Mr Biden would officially announce both picks to the public. The Independent has contacted the White House for a comment.

When contacted by the AP, the White House declined to comment on either nomination but said “no one is final until they’re announced.”

Both Mr Garcetti and Mr Burns, if confirmed by the US Senate, would enter into their positions as ambassadors at a prominent time in the country’s relationship with India and China.

India has become the new global epicentre for Covid-19, with the country logging the third worst death toll in the world behind Brazil and the US.

Mr Garcetti served on the president’s campaign and was initially expected to hold a Cabinet position within the Biden White House.

But the mayor was accused of sexual harassment by one of his former aides, Rick Jacobs, who filed a lawsuit against the politician. His chances of a Cabinet nomination diminished when this lawsuit received national attention after journalist Yashar Ali reported on the allegations.

The Los Angeles mayor publicly took himself out of the running for a Cabinet position by claiming he needed to focus on his city and the surging coronavirus pandemic.

This appointment from Mr Biden could help boost the two-term mayor towards higher political aspirations. Mr Garcetti has only served in positions at the city level, either as mayor or a councilmember. Becoming an ambassador for the Biden administration would give him important foreign policy experience if he were ever to make a political run on the national stage.

Mr Garcetti has received city-wide approval for his response to the coronavirus pandemic, especially since Los Angeles was an epicentre for the virus at one point. But the mayor has also received harsh criticism for the rising homeless population in the city.

When Mr Biden will make the ambassador appointment announcements remained unknown.