Meet Sameera Fazili, the Kashmir origin expert in Biden's team

Before her induction into Biden's team, Fazili served as a Director of an engagement for the community and economic development at the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta. She also worked at the Treasury Department in both Domestic Finance and International Affairs, and then as a senior adviser to the undersecretary for international affairs where she was chief of staff.

Srinagar:Indian-American Sameera Fazili who has been inducted into the US president-elect Joe Biden administration taking on the important role of Deputy Director of the National Economic Council has made India proud.

Fazili's family says she has always been a person with multiple facets - an expert cook, sports enthusiast, and a person with a great sense of humour.

Talking to ETV Bharat over the telephone, Sameera's mother Rafiqa Fazli said her daughter left medicine to pursue law.

"My daughter was very intelligent from her childhood and always came first in her class. After finishing 12th class, Sameera studied medicine for two years but she was never interested in it," she said, adding, "We did not put too much pressure on her. Whatever she is today is because of her hard work, dedication, and intelligence.

"My husband and I are doctors, so we wanted her to be a doctor too, but Sameera wanted to do something different. She never had White House in mind, but eventually, it did happen," she said.

Rafiqa further added that Sameera although now an American, loves her Kashmiri roots and during her free time, indulges in cooking Kashmiri cuisine. She also said that as soon as the pandemic is over, they [Fazili family] intend to visit Kashmir.

"The last time Sameera visited Kashmir was in 2007," her mother said.

Sameera's maternal uncle Rauf Fazili, a former executive director of the Jammu and Kashmir Bank, said, "My sister and brother-in-law left Kashmir for the United States in 1971. My sister Rafiqa Fazili was a well-known pathologist and my brother-in-law Dr Muhammad Yusuf Fazli was a surgeon. Sameera was born in the United States but is very much connected to her homeland and can speak and understand Kashmiri to a great extent."

He further said, "We all used to live in Gojwara area of ​​Shahr-e-Khas and now we have moved to Nishat. Sameera calls me Jaana Mamu and when I used to work in Jammu and Kashmir Bank, she often used to visit me there. She used to visit the Sher-e-Kashmir Institute of Medical Sciences too."

Speaking about Sameera's personal life, he said, "She is just like another Kashmiri living in the United States. Her husband is a doctor and her mother-in-law is also a Kashmiri. They have three children and currently live in Georgia, USA."

"Her achievement is a great honour for us all. She has served in the White House earlier too. Former US President Barack Obama had once invited her whole family to Oval house," he added.

On relation to Ayesha Shah's family, he said, "They have a very good relationship with my brother-in-law's family. Everyone knows each other well. Her parents are doctors too, so the relationship is even deeper. "

Sameera did her graduation from Yale Law School and had done her bachelor at Harvard College. She started her career as a clinical lecturer at Yale Law School.

Before her induction into Biden's team, Fazili served as a Director of an engagement for the community and economic development at the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta. She also worked at the Treasury Department in both Domestic Finance and International Affairs, and then as a senior adviser to the undersecretary for international affairs where she was chief of staff.

Last year, in December, a young Kashmir-born woman, Aishah Shah, was chosen by Biden as one of the main functionaries in the Digital Strategy Team of his White House