Susan Rice congratulates Ajit Doval on his appointment as National Security Advisor

WASHINGTON: US National Security Advisor Susan Rice today congratulated her Indian counterpart Ajit Doval on his appointment and said she looks forward to working with him to deepen Indo-US strategic partnership.

"She (Rice) looks forward to working closely with him to deepen the strategic partnership with India, strengthen security in the region and world, and cooperate on regional and global issues," Patrick Ventrell, spokesperson of the National Security Council, White House, told PTI.

"National Security Advisor Susan Rice warmly congratulates Ajit Doval on his appointment as the Indian National Security Advisor," the spokesperson said.

Doval, a 1968-batch Kerala cadre IPS officer who retired as director of IB in 2005, till recently headed a strategic privately owned think-tank Vivekananda International Foundation.