Biden Nominates Indo-Pacific Lead Campbell as Blinken’s Deputy

Mr. Campbell is the architect of the Biden administration’s Indo-Pacific strategy and a strong proponent of the India-U.S. relationship, which he called “the most important bilateral relationship for the U.S.” in this century. Some U.S. foreign policy experts believe that Mr. Campbell’s move to the State Department will help maintain momentum for some of Mr. Biden’s initiatives in the Indo Pacific.

“As President Biden moves toward election campaign mode, he is likely to travel less to the Indo-Pacific region or embark on major new initiatives. The Biden administration has already made major moves in Asia,” said Lisa Curtis, who leads the Indo-Pacific program at the Centre for a New American Security (CNAS) and was the former senior director for South and Central Asia in the Trump administration’s National Security Council. Ms. Curtis cited initiatives like AUKUS - an Australia, U.K. and U.S. security partnership – Mr. Biden’s promotion of the Quad, and the first-ever trilateral summit between the U.S., Japan, and Korea trilateral summit.

“The focus in Asia next year will be to maintain the momentum of these initiatives and to carry through their implementation, and Kurt can do that from the State Department,” Ms. Curtis told The Hindu. Mr. Campbell, a long-time Asia and Pacific expert, has worked at the State Department before, where he was Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs from 2009-2013.

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