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Blake made Asst Secy of State for South Asian Affairs

Rezaul Karim
Veteran diplomat Robert O Blake has been appointed as Assistant Secretary of State for the Bureau of South and Central Asian Affairs, according to an announcement of the US government.
Blake replaced Richard A Boucher who served as the assistant secretary for the Bureau of South and Central Asian Affairs for more than three years.
A US Senate Foreign Relations Committee has approved the nomination of Robert Blake, currently the US ambassador to Sri Lanka.
Since there was no opposition, Blake's nomination was approved without a debate arid he would take charge of his new office soon, diplomatic sources said.
They said Blake will take up a tour to South Asian countries and is likely to visit Bangladesh mid-June.
Richard Boucher was sworn in as the assistant secretary by the Bush administration on February 21, 2006 when the bureau was expanded to include the nations of central Asia.
The Bureau of South and Central Asian Affairs deals with US foreign policy and US diplomatic relations with the coun-tries of Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Pakistan, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, the Maldives, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan.
On-April 24, President Barack Obama nominated Blake, who has also served as the deputy chief of US mission in New Delhi from 2OQ3 to 2006.
Blake- in his testimony on May 14 be'fbr£ tht Senate Foreign Relations Committee said Bangladesh, the world's seventh most populous country and one that has experienced nearly 20 years of solid economic growth, has begun an important transition back to democracy.
Last December, the country held the most transparent and fairest elections in its history.
However, continuing civil-military tensions underscore the tenuousness of the democratic transition.
"We will work with the people and the new government of Bangladesh to help build stronger democratic institutions and to address the problems of poverty, chronic corruption, the culture of impunity, and domestic and international terrorism," he added.
A foreign service officer since 1985, Blake has also served at the US embassies in Tunisia, Algeria, Nigeria and Egypt He also has held a number of positions at the State Departmentin Washington.
Blake obtained a BA from Harvard College in 1980 and MA in international relations from Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) in 1984. He is married to Sofia Blake. They have three daughters.