President Barack Obama has nominated Tomothy R Roemer,a member of the 9/11 commission, as the new US Ambassador to India.
Timothy J Roemer has been nominated US ambassador to India. A Barack Obama-loyalist, Roemer was an outside adviser to the US president before he took charge.
Roemer represented the 3rd district of Indiana for six terms (from 1991 to 2003) as US Congressman. He did Obama a great favour when the president and Hillary Clinton were vying for the Democratic nominations. As a former Congressman, Roemer had wide contacts and influence in Indiana.
During the run-up to the nominations, he returned that state for Obama. Many Americans believe that if it was not for him, Indiana would have rallied behind Hillary Clinton. Having worked against secretary of state Hillary Clinton, there is speculation that she may not be enthusiastic about his nomination. Roemer is said to be a moderate Democrat who opposed the North American Free Trade Agreement because he was averse to job losses in the US. With America in the throes of a recession, he is likely to be more protectionist. Obama himself has been talking about protecting American jobs and ensuring they don’t go to Bangalore. It will be interesting to see whether Roemer changes his views after arriving here.
He is said to have opposed the first Gulf War resolution in 1991 but unlike Obama, he supported George W Bush’s decision to invade Iraq in 2003. After the September 11 terror attack, he sponsored the legislation to create the 9/11 commission. He was a member of the commission. He is presently the president of the Centre for National Policy. Significantly, the centre works with the Congress and the security community to advance nuclear non-proliferation goals. It is well known that the Obama administration is keen to ratify the CTBT, which was signed by former president Bill Clinton but not ratified by the US Congress. Washington also wants India to sign the CTBT.
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