US President Donald Trump’s close aide Kenneth Juster is all set to become the new US ambassador to India, he will replace Richard Verma.

New Delhi (Sputnik) — Just ahead of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's upcoming visit to the US, the Trump administration will appoint Kenneth Juster as the new ambassador to India.

Juster is currently the Deputy Assistant to the US President for International Economic Affairs and Deputy Director of National Economic Council.

Kenneth Juster has been a votary of US-India relations. He had served as Deputy Secretary of Commerce in President George W. Bush's administration. He was the co-chair of the US-India High Technology Cooperation Group during Bush administration.

Juster was involved in negotiations for the India-US civil nuclear deal during the Bush regime.

"Kenneth Juster's choice as the next US ambassador to India is a welcome step. He is an old India supporter and has fairly good knowledge of US-India trade. Therefore, the message is clear that US President Donald Trump wants to have closer trade ties with India apart from strategic ties. Further, since Juster is a close aide of Trump therefore concerns and issues related to India will be heard on a priority basis. The main problem with the past few US ambassadors here in India had been that they were not directly connected to the US administration. India is a close ally of the US in the Asian region where America has big stakes," Robinder Sachdev, Director of Delhi-based think-tank Imagindia Institute, told Sputnik.