Choppers
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Rajiv Shah to hand out US aid to Pak
As USAID Chief, His Biggest Hurdle Will Be Islamabad
Chidanand Rajghatta | TNN
Washington: A 36-year old Indian-American who navigated glaciers and volcanoes before taking to developmental work was thrown into the political cauldron in Washington DC on Thursday in the highest federal government position occupied by a person of Indian origin in the US.
Secretary of state Hillary Clinton, who knows a thing or two about Beltway politics, warned Rajiv Shah about the pitfalls in Washington DC as she swore him in as USAID chief, a high profile and controversial job that involves overseeing disbursal of nearly $40 billion US foreign aid programme.
Describing Shah, who worked with the Gates Foundation till 2008 as a passionate, visionary, experienced development expert, Clinton joked, This is also a man who summited the 14,400-foot Mount Rainier, one of the most difficult climbs in the continental US. It combines the challenges of an unforgiving glacier with the unpredictability of an active volcano. That may be the best preparation Raj has for working in Washington these days.
The remark was an oblique reference to the continued struggle and controversy in the capital over the role of USAID, which is technically a statutory independent federal agency but works under the State Department overhang. The position of the administrator had also been kept vacant for months as lawmakers (who have to confirm the candidate) and the administration wrangled over nominees before settling on Shah last November.
Shahs pitfalls wont be just domestic but also international. One of his biggest portfolios will be Pakistan, recipient of billions in US aid, where public and political discourse is not only infected with rabid outbursts and paranoia about Indian influence in the US, but also vicious propaganda against Washington.
Among the first tasks before Shah will be to overcome Pakistani neuralgia vis-a-vis US that has seen Islamabad deny visas to US aid officials, suspecting them to be spies, even though Washington has lined up $7.5 billion assistance over the next five years. The US ambassador in Islamabad, Anne Patterson, took the unusual step this week of warning Pakistan that it risked losing aid and projects with its harassment of US personnel.
As USAID Chief, His Biggest Hurdle Will Be Islamabad
Chidanand Rajghatta | TNN
Washington: A 36-year old Indian-American who navigated glaciers and volcanoes before taking to developmental work was thrown into the political cauldron in Washington DC on Thursday in the highest federal government position occupied by a person of Indian origin in the US.
Secretary of state Hillary Clinton, who knows a thing or two about Beltway politics, warned Rajiv Shah about the pitfalls in Washington DC as she swore him in as USAID chief, a high profile and controversial job that involves overseeing disbursal of nearly $40 billion US foreign aid programme.
Describing Shah, who worked with the Gates Foundation till 2008 as a passionate, visionary, experienced development expert, Clinton joked, This is also a man who summited the 14,400-foot Mount Rainier, one of the most difficult climbs in the continental US. It combines the challenges of an unforgiving glacier with the unpredictability of an active volcano. That may be the best preparation Raj has for working in Washington these days.
The remark was an oblique reference to the continued struggle and controversy in the capital over the role of USAID, which is technically a statutory independent federal agency but works under the State Department overhang. The position of the administrator had also been kept vacant for months as lawmakers (who have to confirm the candidate) and the administration wrangled over nominees before settling on Shah last November.
Shahs pitfalls wont be just domestic but also international. One of his biggest portfolios will be Pakistan, recipient of billions in US aid, where public and political discourse is not only infected with rabid outbursts and paranoia about Indian influence in the US, but also vicious propaganda against Washington.
Among the first tasks before Shah will be to overcome Pakistani neuralgia vis-a-vis US that has seen Islamabad deny visas to US aid officials, suspecting them to be spies, even though Washington has lined up $7.5 billion assistance over the next five years. The US ambassador in Islamabad, Anne Patterson, took the unusual step this week of warning Pakistan that it risked losing aid and projects with its harassment of US personnel.
. He is representing US, not india.
