Nisha Biswal is senior vice president for international strategy and global initiatives and oversees South Asia programs at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. Biswal provides strategic guidance on the International Affairs Division’s cross-cutting initiatives, including global security, sustainability, and climate. She serves concurrently as president of the U.S.-India Business Council (USIBC) and the U.S.-Bangladesh Business Council, promoting long-term commercial partnerships and leading advocacy efforts on behalf of more than 200 member companies.

Biswal previously served as assistant secretary for South and Central Asian Affairs at the U.S. Department of State from 2013 to 2017. There she oversaw the U.S.-India strategic partnership during a period of unprecedented cooperation, including the launch of an annual U.S.-India Strategic and Commercial Dialogue. She also initiated the C5+1 Dialogue with Central Asia and the U.S.-Bangladesh Partnership Dialogue during her tenure.

Before joining the Chamber, Biswal was a senior adviser at the Albright Stonebridge Group where she helped expand the firm’s India and South Asia practice. Earlier, she was assistant administrator for Asia at the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), directing and supervising overseas operations across South and Southeast Asia. She also spent over a decade on Capitol Hill as staff director on the State and Foreign Operations Appropriations Subcommittee and on the staff of the Foreign Affairs Committee in the House of Representatives.

Biswal serves on the U.S. Institute of Peace International Advisory Council, the Afghanistan Study Group, and the Aspen Institute’s India-U.S. Track 2 Dialogue on Climate and Energy. She received a bachelor’s degree in international affairs from the University of Virginia.