Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs

United States
Assistant Secretary of State
for South and Central Asian Affairs
United States; Assistant Secretary of State; for South and Central Asian Affairs
	Seal of the United States Department of State
	Incumbent; Donald Lu; since September 15, 2021
Reports to	Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs
Nominator	President of the United States
Inaugural holder	Edward Djerejian
Formation	1992
Website	Official Website

The Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs is the head of the Bureau of South and Central Asian Affairs within the United States Department of State, which handles U.S. foreign policy and relations in the following countries: Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan.

The position of Assistant Secretary of State for South Asian Affairs was renamed when responsibility for policy for five countries (Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Turkmenistan) was transferred from the Bureau of European and Eurasian Affairs to the Bureau of South Asian Affairs, which became the Bureau of South and Central Asian Affairs. Richard A. Boucher was sworn in as the first to hold the current title on February 21, 2006 after the previous Assistant Secretary, Christina B. Rocca, left the Department.

List of Assistant Secretaries of State for South Asian Affairs[]

Name	Assumed office	Left office	President served under
Edward P. Djerejian^[1]	August 24, 1992		George H. W. Bush and Bill Clinton
James P. Covey	^[2]
Robin Raphel	August 6, 1993	June 27, 1997	Bill Clinton
Karl Inderfurth	August 4, 1997	January 19, 2001	Bill Clinton
Christina B. Rocca	June 1, 2001	February 17, 2006	George W. Bush
Richard Boucher	February 21, 2006	January 20, 2009	George W. Bush
Robert O. Blake, Jr.	June 2, 2009	October 20, 2013	Barack Obama
Nisha Desai Biswal	October 21, 2013	January 20, 2017	Barack Obama
William E. Todd (Acting)	January 20, 2017	June 12, 2017	Donald Trump
Alice G. Wells (Acting)	June 26, 2017	June 1, 2020	Donald Trump
Dean Thompson (Acting)	January 20, 2021	September 15, 2021	Joe Biden
Donald Lu	September 15, 2021	present	Joe Biden

References[]

^ Edward P. Djerejian held the title of "Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern and South Asian Affairs" from September 30, 1991. On August 24, 1992, he became Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs and Acting Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs. He was never formally Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs.
^ The Senate did not act upon Covey's nomination and he never became Assistant Secretary.

External links[]

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[1] Edward P. Djerejian held the title of "Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern and South Asian Affairs" from September 30, 1991. On August 24, 1992, he became Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs and Acting Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs. He was never formally Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs.

[2] The Senate did not act upon Covey's nomination and he never became Assistant Secretary.

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United States Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs
Seal of the United States Department of State
Incumbent Donald Lu since September 15, 2021
Reports to	Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs
Nominator	President of the United States
Inaugural holder	Edward Djerejian
Formation	1992
Website	Official Website