In this photo released by the Gujarat state government, US Ambassador to India, Nancy Powell (left), receives flowers presented to her by India's Prime Minister-Designate Narendra Modi
The State Department said US ambassador to India, Nancy Powell, will leave her post this week.
Powell, a veteran diplomat, announced her intention to retire in late March, before recent national elections in India. Narendra Modi was chosen as prime minister of the new government on Tuesday.
Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said Powell would leave India on Thursday, ending a distinguished 37-year foreign service career.
Powell's two-year tenure in New Delhi was roiled by a spat between the US and India over the strip-search of an Indian diplomat in New York City that badly damaged ties.
Kathleen Stephens, a former US ambassador to South Korea, will serve as head of mission until a new permanent ambassador is nominated and confirmed.
Psaki said Stephens will arrive in Delhi in early June.