The Centre for Social and Economic Progress (CSEP) hosted an online seminar titled “The United States & India: A Partnership of Progress and Promise” on Wednesday, August 21, 2024. The seminar featured a conversation between U.S. Deputy Secretary of State for Management and Resources, Richard R. Verma and Constantino Xavier, Senior Fellow, CSEP.

The seminar was streamed live on Zoom and CSEP’s YouTube channel.

About the event

The U.S. and India have posted over two decades of sustained progress in key areas including security, economics, and people to people ties. New challenges—and opportunities—confront both nations and the world. Please join Deputy Secretary of State Richard Verma (the former U.S. Ambassador to India) for a conversation on the progress made in U.S.-India ties, but with a focus on the key areas of cooperation that can help deliver greater global prosperity and security in the years ahead.

Speaker

• Richard R. Verma

Richard R. Verma serves as the U.S. Deputy Secretary of State for Management & Resources. In this role, he acts as the Chief Operating Officer of the Department, and leads the Department’s efforts on modernization, foreign assistance, and a wide range of workforce and strategic issues.

Deputy Secretary Verma previously served as the U.S. Ambassador to India, where he led one of the largest U.S. diplomatic missions and championed historic progress in bilateral ties. He is also a former Assistant Secretary of State for Legislative Affairs and the former National Security Advisor to the Senate Majority Leader.

Deputy Secretary Verma has also had a distinguished career in the private sector, most recently serving as the Chief Legal Officer and Head of Global Public Policy for Mastercard. He is a former partner at the law firm of Steptoe & Johnson, and the Vice Chairman of The Asia Group, a global consulting firm. He also served on the T. Rowe Price corporate board of directors.

Deputy Secretary Verma is a veteran of the U.S. Air Force, and the recipient of numerous military awards and civilian decorations, including the Meritorious Service Medal and the State Department’s Distinguished Service Award. He is also the recipient of the Council on Foreign Relations International Affairs Fellowship, and the Chief Justice Marshall Lifetime Achievement Award.

Deputy Secretary Verma was a member of the President’s Intelligence Advisory Board, the Weapons of Mass Destruction and Terrorism Commission, and the Secretary of State’s Foreign Affairs Policy Board. He has served on a number of non-profit boards, including the Ford Foundation, Lehigh University, and the National Endowment for Democracy.

Deputy Secretary Verma was a Senior Fellow at Harvard University’s Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, and he holds multiple academic degrees, including his doctorate (Ph.D.) from Georgetown University and his law degree (J.D.) from American University. He resides in Maryland with his wife, Pinky, and three children, Zoe, Lucy, and Dylan.

Moderator

• Constantino Xavier

Constantino Xavier is a Senior Fellow in Foreign Policy and Security Studies at CSEP, where he leads the Sambandh Initiative on Regional Connectivity. He is also a Non-Resident Fellow in the Foreign Policy program at the Brookings Institution, in Washington DC. His research focuses on India’s changing role as a regional power, and the challenges of security, connectivity, and democracy across South Asia and the Indian Ocean.

Please contact Gurmeet Kaur at Gkaur@csep.org for general queries and Aruna Bose at abose@csep.org for media queries.

All content reflects the individual views of the speakers. The Centre for Social and Economic Progress (CSEP) does not hold an institutional view on any subject.

REMARKS:

“The United States & India: A Partnership of Progress and Promise” – Remarks by Deputy Secretary of State for Management and Resources Richard Verma

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