United States President Donald Trump on Wednesday said he would nominate senior intelligence officer Robert Williams as the assistant secretary of state for South Asian affairs.

The permanent position has been vacant since Trump took over as the president. If the nomination is confirmed by the US Senate, Williams will take over from Alice G Wells who has been acting assistant secretary for the region since June 2017.

Williams specialised in South Asia and Afghanistan affairs as an analyst and intelligence officer for two decades. Since 2017, he has served at the Defense Intelligence Agency in Washington, DC, as associate deputy director for intelligence and directorate for operations.

Williams has also been an adjunct associate professor at the Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service since 2017, and was a senior adjunct professorial lecturer at the American University’s School of International Service from 2013 to 2016.