Richard Rossow has been named the Wadhwani Chair in US-India Policy Studies the Centre for Strategic & International Studies (CSIS), a leading Washington think tank.
Rossow, who served the last two years as head of the South Asia practice at McLarty Associates and previously as director of operations at the US-India Business Council (USIBC) takes over from Karl "Rick" Inderfurth, former US assistant secretary of state for South Asia.
Inderfurth will remain as a senior adviser at CSIS.
"The US-India relationship is vital to both countries," said John Hamre, CSIS president and CEO. "But right now the relationship is at a crossroads. We need to refocus on economics if we want this to become a truly strategic partnership for the twenty-first century."
The Wadhwani Chair, set up with the support of the Wadhwani Foundation, serves as an independent platform in Washington from which to assess major economic, political, and strategic issues in the US-India relationship, CSIS said.
It is focused primarily on policies that accelerate economic development in India, as well as the US-India economic relationship.
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Rossow has been a leader in private-sector efforts to increase market access, resolve investor disputes, and discover new business opportunities in India since 1998.
From 2008 to 2012, Rossow was with New York Life Insurance Company, most recently as the head of International Government Affairs, where he developed strategic plans for the company's global mergers and acquisitions work and sought to influence regulations in the company's overseas markets, especially India.
"The collaboration between India and the United States on policy initiatives has progressed well, albeit with some headwinds along the way," said Romesh Wadhwani, Symphony Technology Group CEO, who founded the Wadhwani Foundation.
"There is a significant and growing opportunity to develop focused programmess for the benefit of both nations."
"No other think tank in Washington is as focused on the US-India economic relationship as CSIS, with the support of the Wadhwani Foundation," he said.
"Richard Rossow brings real-world experience, creative ideas, and a positive, pragmatic approach to reaching top policymakers in both countries. We are delighted he will be building on the strong foundation that Rick Inderfurth leaves behind," Wadhwani said.