Rocca may succeed Inderfurth
By Ramesh Chandran
The Times of India News Service

WASHINGTON: The Bush administration, still in the throes of selecting key second and third rung officials, have sprung some surprises in choosing those who will be dealing with policy in South Asia. The Times of India now learns that an experienced staffer in Senator Sam Brownback's staff, Christina Rocca, has emerged as a front runner in the race to succeed Karl Inderfurth to the post of assistant secretary of state for South Asia at the State Department.

Rocca's emergence as a possible replacement to Inderfurth was somewhat unexpected considering that those widely tipped to get the job also had impressive credentials. After the carefully crafted campaign to promote the academic heading John Hopkins South Asia studies program, Shirin Tahir Kheli, came a cropper given her close Pakistani connections, the front runners for this vital job from a South Asian perspective included some seasoned specialists of the region like Matt Daley and Al Eastham, former US ambassador to Bangladesh John C Holzman and the heavyweight academic from Georgetown and former journalist James Clad.

Amidst intense speculation amongst South Asia watchers in the capital, the race seemed to narrow down between those who preferred a bureaucrat from within the State Department (the experienced Matt Daley who had also done a highly successful stint in New Delhi as deputy to ambassador Frank Wisner) and a possible political choice (the knowledgeable James Clad)...