Ambassador Atul Keshap has been named president of the US-India Business Council (USIBC), effective January 5, the US Chambers of Commerce has announced. 

The Washington DC-based USIBC, a business advocacy group, represents top global companies operating across the United States, India, and the Indo-Pacific.

Keshap most recently served in New Delhi as United States Chargé d’Affaires to India, leading the US Embassy team. Keshap, a career diplomat who has spent nearly three decades in the US foreign services, has held a number of senior US government positions.

Keshap’s predecessor Nisha Biswal, a former US Assistant Secretary of State for South Asia, will remain deeply involved with the organisation as the US Chamber of Commerce’s Senior Vice President of International Strategy and Global Initiatives and South Asia.

“Ambassador Keshap brings a wealth of experience and knowledge of India and the Indo-Pacific to his new role. Across multiple US administrations, he has been instrumental in expanding US-India strategic and economic cooperation and growing commercial ties across multiple sectors. I look forward to working with Atul and the entire USIBC team to deliver to our members and leaders in both countries unmatched experience, advocacy, and networks to further deepen the US-India partnership,” said Biswal.

“The US-India Business Council is a critical and vital voice in driving ever closer commercial cooperation between the world’s two largest democracies,” said Myron Brilliant, Executive Vice President and Head of the International Division of the US Chamber of Commerce.

The US Chamber of Commerce is the world’s largest business organisation representing companies of all sizes across every sector of the economy.

“As the next President of USIBC, I am honoured and excited to continue my involvement in shaping and strengthening the robust relationship between the United States and India. I am thrilled to join the US Chamber’s international powerhouse team and be part of the world’s largest and most influential advocacy organisation,” said Keshap.

Keshap previously served as US Ambassador to Sri Lanka and Maldives; as well as Chargé d’Affaires at the US Embassy in New Delhi; Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for East Asia and Pacific Affairs; United States Envoy for Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation, and Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for South Asia in Washington, DC, as well as in a number of distinguished roles at the National Defense University, the White House National Security Council, and in diplomatic postings in Washington and abroad, including in India from 2005 to 2008.