Bureau of South and Central Asian Affairs

Assistant Secretary Robert O. Blake

The Bureau of South and Central Asian Affairs is responsible for U.S. foreign policy and U.S. relations with Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan. Robert O. Blake, Jr. succeeded Richard Boucher to became the bureau's seventh Assistant Secretary of State on May 26, 2009. The Assistant Secretary reports to the Secretary of State through the Under Secretary for Political Affairs.

History

After six years of trying, Congress allocated the funds to create an independent Bureau of South Asian Affairs in 1991.[1] Pursuant to the Foreign Relations Authorization Act for Fiscal Years 1992 and 1993,[2] the Bureau of South Asian Affairs was established on August 24, 1992 after having been a part of the Bureau of Near Eastern and South Asian Affairs since 1958.[3] In February 2006 the bureau absorbed the Office of Central Asian Affairs from the Bureau of European and Eurasian Affairs.

A delegation headed by Ms. Heather Variava (Second from Left), Director of South and Central Asia of the US Department of State visited Jaffna and met number of people. In the picture, they are in discussion with E. Saravanapavan, M.P.(Far Left), a Member of Parliament in Sri Lanka.














References

  1. ↑ Office of the Historian. http://history.state.gov, U.S. Department of State .
  2. ↑ U.S. Congress. Foreign Relations Authorization Act, Fiscal Years 1992 and 1993. The Library of Congress, 1992, Sec. 122.
  3. ↑ Crossette, Barbara. "Congress Is Impatient for South Asia Bureau". New York Times, December 26, 1991. .

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