'She will recognise the talent of the Indian-American community.'
Aziz Haniffa/Rediff.com reports from Washington, DC.
United States Democratic Presidential candidate Hillary Clinton's national campaign chairman John Podesta has strongly indicated that if Clinton is elected President, it is a virtual no-brainer that Indian Americans will occupy senior administration positions, including in her cabinet.
Podesta -- the former chief of staff to President Bill Clinton and erstwhile senior adviser to President Barack Obama who keynoted the launch of the Indian American for Hillary Clinton campaign at Montgomery College, Germantown campus, Maryland -- said that leading this pack of Indian American appointees in a Hillary administration could be her long-time friend and confidante, Neera Tanden and Richard Rahul Verma, the current US Ambassador to India.
When asked about possible Indian-American appointments in a Hillary administration, Tanden laughed and said, "I will leave that to John as chair of the campaign to answer."
To that, Podesta said, "I can think of at least one person you've already spoken with, whom I'd like to see in a future Democratic administration."
Earlier Podesta had said, "The one person we don't have with us for Indian Americans for Hillary Clinton, who was with the secretary (of state) in 2008. But I know he is with us in spirit, probably voting in absentia is Ambassador Rich Verma."
Podesta said he was sure that Verma would be one of the most supportive Indian Americans for Hillary Clinton, although, at this time, as a diplomat he could not profess public support during a political campaign.
Both Podesta and Tanden recalled that in every position Hillary has ever had -- First Lady, running for Senate, Senator, Secretary of State -- she always had Indian Americans with her.
"Obviously, I am an Indian American and I didn't have any connections, my family didn't have any connections, (but) she takes what I would say are the best and brightest from everywhere and you see that in every job she has ever held," Tanden said.
"She will recognise the talent of the Indian-American community because she's already done that in the past and she really recognises the incredible diversity," Tanden added.
If Hillary becomes President, Podesta said US-India relations would soar to unprecedented heights.
"As secretary of state, she tried to develop a strong relationship between the US and India and spent time with her Indian counterparts and with the foreign minister and the prime minister," Podesta pointed out.
"Hillary actually helped to lay the foundation, which I had the ability to work on when I was at the White House working for President Obama and to deepen the relationship with Prime Minister Narendra Modi. She also tried to get an outcome in the Paris (Climate Change) negotiations that respected the development position of India but made the future to be one of an ambitious goal of providing more clean energy globally and to deal with the challenge of climate change," Podesta said.
Whether it was security or defence relationships, Podesta noted she (Hillary) had developed strong relations with "Indian friends" and she would take that forward as President Obama has done.
The most tangible transformation of ties between Washington and New Delhi, Podesta reminded his audience, took off in the wake of President Bill Clinton's historic trip to India in March 2000.
Hillary, Podesta reiterated, would certainly follow in that tradition and try to ensure that the US has a strong economic and strategic relationship with India.
Earlier, in his remarks, Podesta, who is of Italian descent, lauded the founders of the Indian Americans for Hillary Clinton campaign.
Devang Shah, one of the key protagonists behind Indian Americans for Hillary Clinton, along with Dr Rajan Natarajan, former deputy secretary of state for external affairs in the Maryland state administration, thanked Podesta and said, "You value us, you respect us, and we deeply appreciate that."
Both in his keynote speech and in his interaction with journalists, Podesta slammed Republican front-runner Donald Trump for his xenophobia, Islamophobia and for fomenting fear and hatred and causing divisions among the American population.
Podesta also criticised Trump for mocking Indian call centre workers at his campaign rally in Delaware.
"He (Trump) never surprises me, because he always reaches new lows with almost every day. But Trump mocking Indian workers was just typical of his disrespect that he's shown to groups across the spectrum," Podesta said.
"And, as I have said, he is running a campaign of bigotry, of division, and that's quite dangerous for the country when you are thinking about the fact that we need friends, we need allies, we need to project American values across the country," Podesta added.
Podesta conceded that Trump's offensive and controversial statements will help Hillary win the US Presidential election.
"Trump with his bigoted and vile anti-immigrant, anti-Mexican, anti-Muslim remarks was motivating a very big, broad, diverse, coalition," Podesta predicted, "that's going to move onto victory in November and then into the White House in January when Clinton is elected America's first-ever woman President."
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