US President Barack Obama has roped in a well-known defence expert to head the South Asia desk at the National Security Council as his government wants to be India's best partner, withdraw troops from Afghanistan and wean away Pakistan from its policy of backing non-State actors.
Peter Lavoy, who earlier served in various key positions in Pentagon and intelligence agencies on South Asia, has been appointed to serve as Senior Director for South Asian Affairs at the National Security Council.
In his new role, Mr Lavoy will advise the President and National Security Advisor Susan Rice on national security and foreign policy matters related to India, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Bhutan and the Maldives and coordinate US policies toward South Asia across the departments and agencies of the US Government.
The White House did not respond to questions on when Mr Lavoy and Mr White would formally start their work.
"It has been a tremendous honor to work with Michael and the entire Stimson team," said Mr White.
Mr Lavoy and Mr White last month penned a joint article for the Foreign Policy magazine.
"The US can and should continue to help to broker India's distinct global role, even as it presses New Delhi to resolve difficult issues such as intellectual property rights, foreign direct investment caps and trade restrictions that might limit India's own economic ambitions over the long-run," they wrote.
Mr Lavoy and Mr White argued that the US should encourage India's efforts to build a capable defense industrial base.
"Respecting India's history of non-alignment, the US can look for ways to deepen both the economic and defense elements of the burgeoning US-India-Japan relationship, and-in other trilateral and 'mini-lateral' formats-formalise cooperation on defence and counter-terrorism issues alongside common partners in Asia," they noted.
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