Former United States Ambassador to India

Richard Rahul Verma is a lawyer and the former U.S. Ambassador to India from 2014 to 2017. Verma previously served as the Assistant Secretary of State for Legislative Affairs at the U.S. Department of State from 2009 to 2011. He is currently the General Counsel, Executive Vice-President and Head of Global Public Policy at Mastercard, a position he has held since October 2020.

After leaving government, Verma served as Vice Chair of The Asia Group from 2017 to 2020, where he oversaw the firm's South Asia practice. He also practiced law for many years at Steptoe & Johnson LLP in Washington DC.

Richard Verma will share his thoughts on how the Government and Private sector can further assist India to deal with the worst health pandemic in modern India. As you may have seen, US President Biden and Indian Prime Minister Modi spoke last week, resulting in President Biden lifting the ban on vaccine raw material, and beginning the process to ship oxygen concentrators and other critical supplies to India. The first of the medical supplies’ shipments arrived in New Delhi last Friday. Rotary clubs across the world are making efforts to send humanitarian aid to India; Ambassador Verma will discuss the shared history of the US and India helping each other during time of crisis, and suggest how Rotary can leverage its operational expertise to support the people of India during this difficult time. This will be an opportunity for Rotarians around the world to come to the rescue of millions of Indians affected by Covid.