Tim Roemer testimony

Obama's ambassador-designate to India had his confirmation hearing in the Senate today. Here's a link to his prepared testimony.

For the most part, Roemer sticks to the familiar line on the bilateral relationship that we've heard U.S. diplomats talk about these past few years with one exception: civil nuclear cooperation is mentioned only in passing, that too only as part of ongoing efforts on clean technologies and renewable energy....

Update #1: According to a PTI report of some of Roemer's answers to questions at his confirmation hearing, spoke of the subcontinent as "an extremely sensitive hotspot for the world and for the region, where we've almost experienced thermonuclear war on several occasions."

Update #2: The SFRC has recommended Roemer's confirmation to the Senate. A vote will be taken next week, following which the new U.S. ambassador is coming to Delhi. The week after that, Secstate Clinton will be in town.

Excerpts:

If confirmed, I look forward to sharing with my Indian counterparts the lessons we learned from 9/11 as India addresses the aftermath of its own terrorist tragedy in Mumbai and as we work together to prevent other attacks from occurring...

While our security relationship is important, our relationship with India goes beyond sharing lessons learned from terrorist attacks and capacity building of law enforcement agencies. As is the case in all of America’s most enduring relationships, the U.S.-India bond is between two democratic societies and two free peoples--not just two governments.

If confirmed, I envision spending my time working to strengthen economic and trade cooperation, helping to expand the frontiers of human knowledge by deepening our science and technology cooperation, and thinking creatively about new education partnerships, clean energy projects and microenterprise initiatives to help women, children and the urban poor...

On Pakistan, we need to continue to support improvement in the overall India-Pakistan relationship, including resumption of a dialogue process that will address issues vital to each country while still ensuring that Pakistan takes concrete steps to address the threat of terrorism. The recently passed Kerry-Lugar legislation should greatly facilitate this process....

The real test of our partnership will be how we work together on the important common global challenges of our era, including addressing the urgent danger posed by climate change... Other global issues include strengthening the global trade and investment system, addressing transnational threats like nuclear weapons proliferation, terrorism and pandemic disease, promoting sustainable economic development to alleviate poverty, and helping other nations become more democratic and open....

We already work together to promote clean technologies, energy efficiency, and renewable energy through the U.S.-India Energy Dialogue and the seven-nation Asia-Pacific Partnership on Clean Development and Climate, and the Civil Nuclear Agreement.