The US Senate has approved the nomination of David Campbell Mulford as ambassador to India. All that remains to be done before he can go to India is taking the oath of office at the State Department.
Unlike his predecessor Robert Blackwill, whose forte is politics, Mulford's background is economics, having served in the US Treasury and in a leading bank before President George W Bush tipped him for the key post in India.
During his confirmation hearing, he made it clear that it will be realistic to accept India as a nuclear power.