By his own admission, Timothy Roemer is an unusual diplomat.
A former Congressman and member of the 9/11 commission, Roemer has breached diplomatic protocol by stepping into areas which don’t fall under his jurisdiction.
Last week, Roemer decided to visit Bangladesh, Afghanistan and Pakistan. It is not known how the American ambassadors posted in those capitals thought of Roemer’s high-profile visits. But he is the first US ambassador in New Delhi who went ahead and met the top political leaders of those countries.
Roemer praised the good work done by India in Afghanistan and paid a visit to India House in Kabul, to pay his respects to those killed in the terror attack in 2008. A serving Indian diplomat and the military attaché including several Afghan civilians were killed in the terror attack.
Roemer said he had met Jayant Prasad, the Indian ambassador in Afghanistan, and had a first hand look at Indian projects, which have been appreciated by the common Afghans.
He said India and the US had the same goal for Afghanistan. “A strong, prosperous and stable Afghanistan is what both US president Barack Obama and prime minister Manmohan Singh wanted to ensure,” he said, adding that, the US was especially interested in capacity building in Afghanistan.
Roemer also stressed on the need for regional co-operation to stabilise Afghanistan, but did not divulge details.
Roemer also met president Asif Ali Zardari and foreign minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi in Pakistan, where he made it clear that India had a positive role to play in Afghanistan.
When asked about Pakistan’s response to his comment, Roemer said, “Zardari was thoughtful and positive.” The ambassador did not go into details mainly because this was a conversation between the US and Pakistan.
Roemer also said that he worked hard to ensure that Indian officials got access to Pakistani-American terrorist David Headley. Headley, the prime accused in 26/11 terror attacks in Mumbai, is now in FBI custody.
