An Evening at the Indian Embassy
with Fmr. U.S. Ambassador to India Rich Verma
Please join SABA-DC for an evening with the former U.S. Ambassador to India (and former SABA-DC President!), Rich Verma. Amb. Verma will discuss his career and professional development before, during and after his time in the Ambassadorship. Join us for a reception after in the Embassy hall featuring appetizers from Woodlands restaurant.
Deputy Chief of Mission (DCM) Ambassador Santhosh Jha will give welcoming remarks on behalf of the Embassy of India.
The discussion will be moderated by SABA-DC member Ronak D. Desai, Law & Security Fellow at The New America Foundation and an Affiliate at the Belfer Center’s India and South Asia Program at Harvard University.
SABA-DC and Amb. Verma greatly thank the Embassy of India for hosting us for this event.
*THIS EVENT IS NOW SOLD OUT*
To join or renew your membership, visit www.sabadc.org.
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WHEN
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Wednesday, October 11, 6:30-7:30 (conversation); 7:30-8:30 (reception)
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WHERE
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Embassy of India, 2107 Massachusetts Ave NW, Washington, DC 20008
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RSVP
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SOLD OUT
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Richard Verma is Vice Chairman and Partner at The Asia Group. He previously served as the U.S. Ambassador to India from 2014 to 2017, where he led one of the largest U.S. diplomatic missions and championed historic progress in bilateral cooperation on defense, trade, and clean energy. Ambassador Verma also oversaw an unprecedented nine meetings between President Obama and Prime Minister Modi – leading to over 100 new initiatives and more than 40 government-to-government dialogues.
Ambassador Verma was previously the Assistant Secretary of State for Legislative Affairs, and also served for many years as the Senior National Security Advisor to the Senate Majority Leader. He was a member of the WMD and Terrorism Commission and a co-author of their landmark report, “World at Risk.” He is a veteran of the U.S. Air Force, and his military decorations include the Meritorious Service Medal and Air Force Commendation Medal.
In addition to his role at The Asia Group, Ambassador Verma is a Centennial Fellow at Georgetown University’s Walsh School of Foreign Service, and he co-chairs the Center for American Progress’ U.S.-India Task Force. Ambassador Verma is the recipient of the State Department’s Distinguished Service Award, the Council on Foreign Relations International Affairs Fellowship, and was ranked by India Abroad as one of the 50 most influential Indian Americans. He holds degrees from the Georgetown University Law Center (LLM), American University’s Washington College of Law (JD), and Lehigh University (BS).
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Ambassador Santosh Jha has served as Deputy Chief of Mission (DCM) with the rank of Ambassador in the Indian Mission in Washington, D.C., since July 2017. He previously served as the Head of the Policy Planning Division of the Ministry of External Affairs from 2015-2017; and as DCM to the Indian Mission to the European Union, Belgium, and Luxembourg from 2010-2013, among other posts. He obtained a Master's Degree in History from Delhi University and joined the Foreign Service in 1993. His full Curriculum Vitae can be found at the Embassy of India site here.
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Moderator: Ronak D. Desai
Ronak D. Desai is a Law & Security Fellow at The New America Foundation and an Affiliate at the Belfer Center’s India and South Asia Program at Harvard University. Until recently, he served as Counsel to a high-profile Select Committee on Capitol Hill.
Prior to this, Desai worked as an attorney at a prominent international law firm in Washington D.C. Mr. Desai is a member of the Aspen India Strategy Group, and serves as General Counsel and Board Director of the Partnership for a Secure America. Professor Desai teaches a popular course on U.S. foreign policy toward South Asia at the Johns Hopkins University. He writes frequently on South Asia, anticorruption, governance, and diaspora politics, and is a regular contributor to several prominent American and South Asian publications, including Forbes.
Professor Desai earned his undergraduate degree from the Johns Hopkins University, and joint public policy and law degrees from the Harvard Kennedy School of Government and Harvard Law School, from which he graduated magna cum laude.