US appoints new India emissary

US President Barack Obama on Friday named Nancy Powell, a career diplomat with wide experience in South Asia, to be the ambassador to India and fill a half-year vacancy.
Powell has served as US ambassador to Pakistan and to Nepal and holds the rank of career ambassador, a prestigious title given only to select career diplomats based on their service.
But US presidents in recent years have chosen political appointees for India in a bid to highlight the importance of the relationship between the world's two largest democracies.