By Arul Louis

New York, Jul 18 (IANS): US President Donald Trump has nominated an Indian American lawyer who has been active in the Republican Party and with the Hindu American Coalition to head the Asian operations of the US Agency for International Development (USAID).

The White House announced on Friday the nomination of Sue Ghosh Stricklett as the assistant administrator in charge of USAID's Asia Bureau overseeing supervising its operations from China to the Maldives.

USAID is the arm of the US government that provides development assistance to developing countries and promotes democracy and gender equality.

Her nomination goes to the Senate, which has to approve nominees to senior positions like hers.

According to the White House, she was a foreign policy adviser on Asia to presidential campaigns.

She was the founder of the Trump campaign in Maryland state for the 2016 election. She had also campaigned for the two previous Republican Party presidential candidates John McCain and Mitt Romney.

Stricklett has been the general counsel for American Hindu Coalition, which says it is a non-partisan organisation that says its aims is to "build a stronger America through Hindu Enlightenment Principles."

She is the author of several articles in US media advocating close relations with India and on "Trump's outreach to Hindu Americans, both before and after his election" with a slew of important appointments in his administration.

The White House said that she has been a lawyer in private practice for over 25 years working in areas of foreign policy and national security.

"The scope of her practice includes Foreign Corrupt Practices Act compliance, intellectual property licensing and technology transfer, US dual-use and defence trade control licensing, and sanctions law enforcement," the White House said.

Stricklett's nomination comes when less than six months are left in Trump's current term and nearly 250 key positions of the 755 requiring Senate confirmation have yet to be filled.