United States Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs
Seal of the United States Department of State
Incumbent Donald Lu since September 15, 2021
Reports to	Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs
Nominator	President of the United States
Inaugural holder	Edward Djerejian
Formation	1992
Website	Official Website

The Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs is the head of the Bureau of South and Central Asian Affairs within the United States Department of State, which handles U.S. foreign policy and relations in the following countries: Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan.

The position of Assistant Secretary of State for South Asian Affairs was renamed when responsibility for policy for five countries (Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Turkmenistan) was transferred from the Bureau of European and Eurasian Affairs to the Bureau of South Asian Affairs, which became the Bureau of South and Central Asian Affairs. Richard A. Boucher was sworn in as the first to hold the current title on February 21, 2006 after the previous Assistant Secretary, Christina B. Rocca, left the Department.

List of Assistant Secretaries of State for South Asian Affairs

Name	Assumed office	Left office	President served under
Edward P. Djerejian^[1]	August 24, 1992	May 30, 1993^[2]	George H. W. Bush and Bill Clinton
James P. Covey	^[3]
Robin Raphel	August 6, 1993	June 27, 1997	Bill Clinton
Karl Inderfurth	August 4, 1997	January 19, 2001	Bill Clinton
Christina B. Rocca	June 1, 2001	February 17, 2006	George W. Bush
Richard Boucher	February 21, 2006	January 20, 2009	George W. Bush
Robert O. Blake, Jr.	May 26, 2009	October 20, 2013	Barack Obama
Nisha Desai Biswal	October 21, 2013	January 20, 2017	Barack Obama
William E. Todd (Acting)	January 20, 2017	June 12, 2017	Donald Trump
Alice G. Wells (Acting)	June 26, 2017	June 20, 2020	Donald Trump
Dean R. Thompson (Acting)	January 20, 2021	September 15, 2021	Joe Biden
Donald Lu	September 15, 2021	present	Joe Biden

References

External links

United States Assistant Secretaries of State (and equivalent ranks)

United States Assistant Secretaries of State (and equivalent ranks)
Reporting to the Under Secretary for Political Affairs	African Affairs East Asian and Pacific Affairs European and Eurasian Affairs International Organization Affairs Near Eastern Affairs South and Central Asian Affairs Western Hemisphere Affairs
Reporting to the Under Secretary for Economic Growth, Energy, and the Environment	Economic and Business Affairs Oceans and International Environmental and Scientific Affairs Energy Resources Chief Economist of the Department
Reporting to the Under Secretary for Arms Control and International Security	Arms Control, Verification, and Compliance International Security and Nonproliferation Political-Military Affairs
Reporting to the Under Secretary for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs	Educational and Cultural Affairs Global Public Affairs
Reporting to the Under Secretary for Management	Administration Consular Affairs Diplomatic Security Chief Information Officer of the Department Chief Medical Officer and Designated Agency Safety and Health Official Comptroller of the Department and Director of Global Financial Services Director General of the Foreign Service and Director of Global Talent Director of Budget and Planning Director of Overseas Buildings Operations Director, Foreign Service Institute Director, Office of Foreign Missions, with the rank of Ambassador Director, Office of Management Strategy and Solutions
Reporting to the Under Secretary for Civilian Security, Democracy, and Human Rights	Conflict and Stabilization Operations Coordinator for Counterterrorism, with rank and status of Ambassador-at-Large Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs Population, Refugees, and Migration Director, Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking (Ambassador-at-Large) Global Criminal Justice (Ambassador-at-Large)
Reporting directly to the Secretary	Intelligence and Research Legislative Affairs Special Assistant to the Secretary and Executive Secretary of the Department Inspector General Legal Adviser Director, Policy Planning Staff Director, Office of Foreign Assistance Director, Office of Civil Rights and Chief Diversity Officer Chief of Protocol of the United States, with the rank of Ambassador Global Women's Issues (Ambassador-at-Large) Coordinator of United States Government Activities to Combat HIV/AIDS Globally (Ambassador-at-Large)