Trump may appoint Indian-American Manisha Singh to key State Dept post

Washington: US President Donald Trump has announced his intent to nominate Indian-American Manisha Singh to a key administration position in US State Department that would make her in charge of economic diplomacy.

Currently Chief Counsel and Senior Policy Advisor to Senator Dan Sullivan, Ms Singh, if confirmed by the Senate, would replace Charles Rivkin as the assistant secretary of state for economic affairs.

The position has been lying vacant since January after Mr Rivkin put in his papers following Trump's swearing-in as the 45th President of the United States.

A resident of the state of Florida, Ms Singh, 45, has earlier served as the deputy assistant secretary of state in the Bureau of Economic, Energy and Business Affairs, and as a senior aide to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

Her private sector experience includes practicing law at multinational law firms and working in-house at an investment bank.

She holds an LL.M degree in International Legal Studies from the American University Washington College of Law, a J.D from the University Of Florida College Of Law and completed her BA from the University of Miami at the age of 19.

Ms Singh is licensed to practice law in Florida, Pennsylvania, and the District of Columbia. A native of Uttar Pradesh, she moved to Florida along with her parents as a child.

In an interview to Washington Examiner early this year, Ms Singh said she worked on broader foreign policy component in the office of Senator Sullivan.