Letters to the Editor: 'Eric Garcetti, U.S. ambassador to India — this is the best you've got?'

To the editor: Indian politician Shashi Tharoor's op-ed piece regarding the delay in confirming former L.A. Mayor Eric Garcetti's appointment as the U.S. ambassador to his country explains in detail the importance of filling this position.

Tharoor describes the strategic and economic importance of the "indispensable" U.S.-India partnership. He says, "The failure to confirm Garcetti has undermined this mutually beneficial relationship."

But the only noted qualifications Garcetti has for such a monumental position are that "he is young and energetic" and has a close relationship with President Biden.

Clearly, the vetting process for Garcetti before his nomination overlooked the crises left behind by the former two-term mayor of Los Angeles.

His time in office was marked by scandal and corruption both in City Hall and the Department of Water and Power, failing infrastructure, filthy streets and a worsening homelessness crisis. On that last issue, it took a mere day for Garcetti's successor to declare a state of emergency after she took office.

Eric Garcetti, U.S. ambassador to India — this is the best you've got?

Babette Wilk, Valley Village

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To the editor: Tharoor gets a lot right in his op-ed article, but he gets one important thing dead wrong.

The Biden administration has, in fact, been acting forcefully to get Garcetti confirmed as ambassador to India, but it has been stymied by Sen. Charles Grassley (R-Iowa) and his ilk.

As with most congressional Republicans, Grassley's recalcitrance typifies the unremitting GOP obstructionism directed at nearly any action the Biden administration would like to take. The party of "no" has been petulantly resistant to Democratic policy since Barack Obama was president, and it is shamefully continuing this behavior under Biden.

Tom Stapleton, Glendale

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.