Trump nominates US ambassador to Myanmar

US President Donald Trump has nominated Thomas L Vajda, currently the Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for South Asia, as the ambassador to Myanmar. Vajda was nominated by Trump as US ambassador to Myanmar on Monday. The nomination was sent to the Senate a day after the Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced retirement of Alice G Wells, the Trump administration's point person for South and Central Asia and a votary of strong US-India strategic ties.

Vajda, who has been the US consul general in Mumbai, was slated to replace Wells. His nomination is subject to confirmation by the Senate. In his current position, Vajda oversees US policy and relations with India, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Maldives, and Bhutan. Vajda, who joined the Foreign Service in 1991, served as US Consul General in Mumbai from 2014-2017.

From October 2018 until July 2019, Vajda served as Acting Deputy Assistant Secretary for Security and Transnational Affairs in the Bureau of South and Central Asian Affairs, overseeing economic and security issues, resource and strategic planning, and Congressional relations across all the countries of South and Central Asia.

From July 2017 to October 2018, Vajda was Acting Deputy Assistant Secretary for South Asia. He has served overseas in Northeast and Southeast Asia, Central Europe, the Balkans and at the State Department headquarters in Washington, DC. Prior to Mumbai, his previous postings included Deputy Chief of Mission in Rangoon, Burma (Myanmar), Director of the Middle East Partnership Initiative and Deputy Coordinator for Assistance to the Middle East. 

(Image Credits: AFP)