US envoy to India Timothy Roemer resigns, cites family commitments

Timothy Roemer, the Democrat Congressman whom president Barack Obama appointed US ambassador to India, has announced his resignation, citing family reasons.

“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 center after that,” Roemer said in a statement.

His two sons will be leaving for college next year and he want them to spend the maximum time with the the family – his parents and in-laws – before they go off.

Roemer is one of three American ambassadors to India who is not a career diplomat. The other two were John Kenneth Galbraith, the well-know economist and author, whom John F Kennedy had handpicked to be in India.

The other was Daniel Patrick Moynihan, the New York Democrat senator, who was ambassador in India in the 1970s. Roemer had more warn and friendly relations with his official and unofficial Indian interlocutors as did Galbraith in the 1960s. The three of them represented Democratic administrations.

Most of the envoys sent by Republican presidents have been career diplomats or businessmen. For example, Roemer's predecessor, David Mulford, was a corporate man who helped push the India-US civil nuclear deal in 2005.

Roemer too cited the sale of military transport planes, C130J, and the pending sale of C1-7s as one his major achievements in strengthening the strategic ties between the two countries. “ Our defence partnership offers economic benefits for both India and the United States and significant job creation in both countries,'' he noted.

He also struck a sentimental note when he said that he and his family came here as diplomats and were going back as part of a family and went on to say, “As ambassador, I had the chance to travel with my family to all corners of this incredible and beautiful country.  Whether I was playing basketball with Muslim girls in Lucknow, seeing the majestic tiger in Ranthambore, or observing the “aarti” on the banks of the mighty Ganga in Varanasi, I personally viewed how common values and common interests bind our two great democracies together more strongly every day.”