US NSA ropes in India expert to a key White House position

WASHINGTON: US National Security Advisor Lt Gen H R McMaster has roped in Lisa Curtis, an India expert, to a key White House position and in her capacity she would be Trump administration's point person for South Asia.

"Yes, (Lisa) Curtis will be joining (NSC) as Senior Director for South Asia," a White House official told PTI conforming the news first reported by The Washington Post.

It was previously held by Peter Lavoy, who has now joined the private sector.

The White House has not officially announced her appointment.

A well-known and respected foreign policy expert on South Asian issues, Curtis, from The Heritage Foundation recently was co-author of a report 'New U S Approach to Pakistan: Enforcing Aid Conditions without Cutting Ties" along with Husain Haqqani, the former Pakistani ambassador to the US.

Well known in India, Pakistan and Bangladesh, Curtis has been a strong advocate of fight against radical Islamic terrorism ranging from Afghanistan to Bangladesh.

Curtis has been a leading voice on the Republican side of the South Asia expert community for decades, having worked at the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, as an advisor to the State Department during the George W Bush administration and as an analyst with the CIA.