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PM's NRI friend named ambassador-at-large in US

P Jayaram in New Delhi

India announced on Thursday the appointment of a leading non-resident Indian and a close friend of Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee as ambassador-at-large in Washington.

This is the first time a non-diplomat has been appointed to such a post, particularly in an important capital like Washington.

Bhishma Kumar Agnihotri has been appointed adviser in the embassy of India, Washington, with personal rank of ambassador and as ambassador-at-large for NRIs/PIOs [non-resident Indians/people of Indian origin], the external affairs ministry announced.

Agnihotri, 68, currently working as chancellor, Southern University law centre, Baton Rouge, is expected to take up his assignment shortly.

Agnihotri is a key figure in the Overseas Friends of BJP, the overseas arm of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party.

His appointment is seen as a reflection of the increasingly significant role the influential Indian Americans have played in improving relations between the two countries, acknowledged both by former US president Bill Clinton and Vajpayee.

"Mr Agnihotri can do a lot by maintaining a constant interface with the NRIs and help serve as a vital bridge in galvanising the Indians to participate in development projects back home," a senior official said.

"The persistent complaint of the NRIs has been that Indian missions have hardly any time for them," he noted.

It was not clear immediately where Agnihotri would operate from or whether he would report to India's Ambassador in Washington Lalit Mansingh.

Agnihotri belongs to Jalandhar in Punjab and is married to Krishna from Ludhiana. He has a son, who is a cardiac surgeon at Harvard, and two daughters, one a lawyer and the other a child psychiatrist.

Indo-Asian News Service

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