US Ambassador Designate Eric Garcetti has arrived in India

After twelve years as Los Angeles City Council member, including six years as City Council President, Garcetti became the mayor of Los Angeles in 2013. He was the youngest mayor ever and won by a wide margin. "During the COVID-19 pandemic, Garcetti was praised for leading Los Angeles’ aggressive response, building the largest testing and vaccination sites in the world and adopting many of the earliest public health protections while keeping critical sectors of the economy going", said a statement by the United States Embassy.

Garcetti is an alumnus of Columbia University where he also studied Hindi, Indian culture and history. He later got a Master's degree in International and Public Affairs. He was also selected for a Rhodes scholarship and studied at Oxford and LSE. "A fourth-generation native of Los Angeles, Garcetti is a proud card-carrying member of the Screen Actors Guild and is an avid pianist and photographer", said the US embassy.

President Joe Biden nominated Eric Garcetti as the US Ambassador to India in 2021, but his confirmation took 26 months. The delay was due to questions raised by Republican and Democrat Senators about how Garcetti had overlooked allegations of sexual misconduct by a top aide.