New Delhi
28 April 2011
US ambassador to India Timothy John Roemer has resigned, citing personal,
professional and family considerations. He is expected to leave India in June, the US
embassy said in a press release.
"When I accepted this job two years ago, I told President Obama that I would serve for
two years but that family considerations would be front and centre after that," Roemer
said, and suggested that he would like his parents and in-laws to be able to spend more
time with his two sons who will be leaving for college in the next 14 months. He also
said that he had accomplished all of the strategic objectives set forth by US president
Barack Obama two years ago. But while he set forth the personal and family reasons, he
was not particularly forthcoming about the professional considerations that might have
aided his decision to resign.
There were murmurs that his announcement Thursday coincided with the publication of
reports in the Indian media that both American aircraft -- Boeing F/A 18IN and Lockheed-
Martin F-16IN -- were out of the running for the coveted multi-billion dollar contract for
sale of 126 medium multi-role combat aircraft (MMRCA) to the Indian air force. However,
this newspaper was given to understand that his decision to resign predated the
rejection of the American aircraft. The envoy had informed the Indian government in
advance as per the practice. In fact, Roemer (54) had spoken about his decision to resign
in an interview to NDTV which was recorded on Tuesday but aired this morning.
Also, in a separate press release issued later in the day, Roemer clarified that the US
embassy was informed of the Ministry of Defence's decision only on Wednesday. While
remaining respectful of the Indian government's procurement process, Roemer,
however, said in it that the US was "deeply disappointed" by the news that Boeing and
Lockheed-Martin aircraft were out of the reckoning for the MMRCA deal.
Roemer's resignation came close on the heels of a proposed reshuffle of Obama's
national security team, which will see CIA director Leon Panetta replace Robert Gates as
defence secretary, and NATO International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan
commander General David Petraeus succeed Panetta as CIA chief. Obama is also
planning to appoint Ryan Crocker, a former US envoy to Pakistan, as the US ambassador
to Afghanistan. In March, commerce secretary Gary Locke was named as the new US
envoy to China.
Come August, India too will have a new ambassador to the US. Foreign secretary
Nirupama Rao is tipped to succeed Meera Shankar in Washington.
Obama's visit to India in November 2010 and an exponential growth in the defence
partnership, marked by the sale of C130J aircraft and the pending sale of C-17 military
transport aircraft to India, were a few of the highlights of Roemer's tenure but it was also
hit by the WikiLeaks disclosures.
Obama nominated Roemer on May 27, 2009. Roemer had edged Karl Inderfurth and
Marshall Bouton out for the post. He was sworn in on July 23 after the US senate
confirmation, and he presented his credentials to President Pratibha Devisingh Patil on
August 11, 2009.
Born October 30, 1956, Roemer was president of the Centre for National Policy in the US,
a think-tank, prior to his nomination as ambassador to India. Roemer is a keen blogger
and he had hoped to shake hands with as many of the one billion people in India as he
possibly could.
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