Farah Pandith overwhelmed with response from India

WASHINGTON: Kashmir-born Farah Pandith, appointed as the Special US Representative to Muslim world by the Obama administration, today said that she is overwhelmed with the response from India over her new job.

"I was actually very overwhelmed with the response in India... I really have to say it was really very special for me as somebody of Indian heritage," Pandith told the State Department press corps at her maiden press conference.

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton had last week appointed Pandith for this first-of-its-kind position in the US government as part of President Barack Obama's effort to start a new beginning with the Muslim world and improve America's image among Islamic nations.

"I was born in India and grew up in Massachusetts," Pandith said.

India has the world's second largest Muslim population after Indonesia.

Having done all her education in Massachusetts, she went to Milton Academy, Smith College and then to the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy.

"I have had experience working in both the public and private sector. I was vice president of international business for a company outside Boston and had a chance to really think about the international marketplace, so to speak, from a lot of different perspectives," she said.