Friday, February 10 2006 11:18 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Washington: India and China have emerged as the big winners in the first round of a broad restructuring of US diplomatic posts ordered by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.

Out of the 74 new US diplomatic positions, China will get 15, including a dozen at the US Embassy in Beijing followed by India with 12 new posts, seven of them in New Delhi, according to two State Department lists obtained by 'The Washington Post'.

Indonesia is at the third slot with five new positions in Jakarta. Other countries that are to receive at least three more US diplomatic slots include Nigeria, Israel, Lebanon, Vietnam, Tajikistan, Bolivia, Ecuador, Venezuela and Nicaragua.

Of 61 positions slated for elimination in the initial batch, 10 will fall in Russia and seven in Germany. U.S. embassies in several other countries -- Belgium, Poland, Italy, Spain, Ukraine, Japan and Brazil will lose two or three posts.

Rice announced plans last month to shift hundreds of Foreign Service positions from Europe and other developed countries to more challenging assignments in Asia, the Middle East and elsewhere as part of an increased American focus on battling terrorism and strengthening security in threatened regions.

The closures and add-ons constitute just the beginning of a major rearrangement that State Department officials say will affect a substantial portion of the 6,400 Foreign Service positions, the report said.