page_title: Richard Verma
section_title: Career
hierarchical_section_title: Richard Verma / Career
caption_attribution_description: President Barack Obama meets with Richard Verma, recently confirmed by the Senate as the next U.S. Ambassador to India, in the Oval Office, Dec. 11, 2014. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)
context_page_description: Richard Rahul Verma is a Canadian-born Indian-American lawyer and the former U.S. Ambassador to India from 2014 to 2017. Verma previously served as the Assistant Secretary of State for Legislative Affairs at the U.S. Department of State from 2009 to 2011.
  Verma currently serves as Vice Chairman of The Asia Group.
context_section_description: Verma began his career in the U.S. Air Force as an Air Force judge advocate, serving on active duty from 1994 to 1998. His military decorations include the Meritious Service Medal and the Air Force Commendation Medal.
  Verma later served as the Senior National Security Advisor to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid from 2002 to 2007. In 2008, he was a member of the Commission on the Prevention of WMD proliferation and terrorism, and co-authored World at Risk (2008).
  After the inauguration of President Barack Obama, he joined the State Department in 2009 as Assistant Secretary of State for Legislative Affairs under Secretary Hillary Clinton, replacing Matthew A. Reynolds.
caption: Barack Obama with Richard Verma, December 2014
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