The Biden administration has appointed two Indian-American experts — Sohini Chatterjee and Aditi Gorur — to key diplomatic positions at the US Mission to the United Nations. Chatterjee will serve as a senior policy advisor to the US Ambassador to the UN, while Gorur has been appointed as policy advisor at the mission, according to an official statement.
An expert on global development, conflict, and mass atrocities, Chatterjee till recently taught as an adjunct professor at Columbia University's School of International and Public Affairs. She previously worked in the Bureau for Policy, Planning and Learning at the US Agency for International Development (USAID).
She had also favoured strategic dialogue with India on how to combat climate change would be a great opportunity.
“Prime Minister Narendra Modi – in 2021 – should work with the Biden administration to develop a more sustainable alliance – one that will work towards countering violent extremism; boosting trade cooperation bilaterally and in the region; and battling global climate change,” she said when asked about the India US relationship in 2021.
Gorur is an expert on UN peacekeeping. Till recently she was a senior fellow and director of the Protecting Civilians in Conflict Programme at the Stimson Center. Her primary research focus is on preventing and responding to violence against civilians, particularly in the context of peacekeeping operations.
Before joining Stimson, Gorur worked with the Indian Institute for Human Settlements in India, the Asia Foundation and the Center for Liberty in the Middle East in Washington, DC, and the Melbourne University Law School in Australia.
She holds a Master of Arts in international security from Georgetown University, as well as a Bachelor of Arts in development studies and a Bachelor of Laws with honors from the University of Melbourne.
