Trump to appoint intelligence officer to assistant secretary for South, Central Asia

THE HINDU
DECEMBER 14, 2018
SRIRAM LAKSHMAN

U.S. President Donald Trump announced his intention to nominate Robert Williams, an intelligence officer with a specialisation in South Asia and Afghanistan, as Assistant Secretary of State for South Asian Affairs, the White House said in a statement on Wednesday.

Mr. Williams will take over the role from Alice G. Wells, who has been Acting Assistant Secretary for South and Central Asia since June 2017. The White House statement did not include “Central Asia” in the designation.

The joint South and Central Asian Bureau was created in 2006.

Mr. Williams has, since 2017, been Associate Deputy Director for Intelligence and Director for Operations at the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA), a Washington DC-based Department of Defense intelligence group, according to the White House statement.

In addition to being an adjunct professor at Georgetown University and American University, Mr Williams has also been the National Intelligence Officer for South Asia at the National Intelligence Council , a body that advises the Director of National Intelligence.

Assistant Secretaries lead their respective bureaus and Mr. Williams will take on the role when the U.S. faces several challenges in the neighbourhood — carefully managing its growing strategic partnership and defence ties with India, the peace process in Afghanistan, where there are about 14,000 American troops, and U.S. policy towards Pakistan, especially with regard to fighting terror in the region.

“Robert Williams is a consummate leader with deep knowledge of South Asian affairs and over two decades of intelligence work with the Department of Defense. I had the pleasure of working with him during my tenure in the government and I can say with the utmost confidence that the Bureau’s important work and the U.S.-India relationship remain in steady hands and will only reach greater heights under his leadership,” said former Assistant Secretary of State Nisha Biswal who currently heads the US India Business Council.

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