Roaming Roemer

I had terrific meetings in Washington with Secretary Clinton and with the co-chairs of the India Caucus, Senators Mark Warner and John Cornyn. The focus, of course, is the upcoming Strategic Dialogue meeting in mid-July in Delhi between Secretary Clinton and Minister Krishna. We discussed the many opportunities that exist today in trade, security, energy, and education for collaboration between our two countries. As evidence of the interest in all-things India in Washington, 37 Senators from both sides of the aisle are now members of the India Caucus and the co-chairs expect membership to increase. It is great for our bilateral relationship when there is interest and attention from all branches of our government. Under Senator Warner and Cornyn’s leadership, the India Caucus can be another effective bipartisan group to bring prosperity and security to Americans and Indians.

It was an honor to return to my hometown and graduate school alma mater where I gave the commencement address to the University of Notre Dame’s graduate school. I have deep roots at this great University, starting with my grandfather, who was a philosophy professor there, and followed by my parents who both worked in the administration. My dad earned an undergraduate and law degree from Notre Dame, too. It was great seeing old friends, my mentor Professor Peri Arnold, Professor John Roos, Provost Tom Burish, and President Father John Jenkins. I recalled my experience as an Ambassador and Congressman to discuss how the world has changed since I graduated from Notre Dame in 1985 and encouraged the graduates to find their passion and concentrate their efforts to make a positive change to a business, a classroom, or a community. I also highlighted Dr. Pathak’s work with scavengers as an example and an inspiration of someone making a positive change in his community.

As Ambassador, I spend much time explaining the win-win benefits of the U.S.-India economic and commercial relationship to Indians, Indian businesses, and Indian government officials. Yet, this same effort must be done in the United States so it gave me great pleasure to meet with over 100 business leaders in Chicago as a guest of the prestigious Chicago Council on Global Affairs. I discussed the many reasons why President Obama was correct in elevating our bilateral relationship with India to a global strategic partnership with the U.S. and highlighted the many attractions that India has to offer the companies in the audience that are exploring entering the Indian market. For American companies, if you can be patient and come to India with a long-term strategy, you can be very successful.

Spending one hour with the women of the Self-Employed Women’s Association (SEWA) leaves you with great respect for the organization and all that these incredible women have accomplished. Starting with precious little, yet utilizing their talent, ambition, and energy, the members are true entrepreneurs that have become successful small business owners and shareholders. Even more impressive is their self-confidence to be able to handle any problem that comes their way and their willingness to share their experiences and help out others. They truly prove the benefits of empowering women since when women do better, their children, families, and communities do better. I salute their success.

Meeting with the 25 business leaders at CII and with Gautam Adani in Ahmedabad highlights the importance of targeting other cities in addition to Mumbai, Bangalore, and Hyderabad to foster economic cooperation between our two countries. The business that can take place between our two countries in Gujarat demonstrates the win-win proposition that increased commerce brings. At a lunch with CII, the managing director of Dishman Pharmaceuticals explained how his U.S. facility employs 500 American workers in the U.S. Opportunities abound throughout Gujarat for American businesses in such sectors as ports, clean energy, infrastructure, education, and pharmaceuticals, to name a few. We can and will do much more to make American businesses aware of the many possibilities to do business in this state.

I felt the presence of Gandhiji throughout my visit to Ahmedabad. I started my trip at the Sabarmati Ashram where he lived for many years and began his Salt March to Dandi in 1930, and followed this with a stop at the Gujarat Vidyapith, a university started by Gandhiji. And it is also during my interaction with Indicorps volunteers that the values and teachings of Gandhiji really come to life. This wonderful group of young people, primarily Indian-Americans, come to India to give their time at various organizations on projects that cover a range of activities, including the establishment of a health resources center to increase awareness and empower women to manage their own health, working to advance finance and credit instruments for farmers, enabling women to create sustainable micro-enterprises, and establishing creative learning environments for schoolchildren. They even use Ultimate Frisbee as a way to foster greater interaction and a sense of unity among religious communities. After one hour with the volunteers, you can’t help but feel highly inspired and very optimistic about the future.

When I first arrived in India two years ago, the most common question I received was, “What is the next big thing in the U.S. – India strategic partnership?” The answer is, “There is no one thing.” We have a global partnership today with India. Over the past several years, our partnership has expanded and broadened onto the world stage and we are now collaborating in almost every field of human endeavor. We are working extremely closely on a security partnership sharing intelligence, sharing best practices, and sharing David Headley. We can cooperate in civil space and defense due to President Obama’s leadership in reforming our export control regime and removing Indian entities from our restricted lists. There is the possibility for $10-12 billion in defense sales in the next few years (C-17s. C-130Js, Apache helicopters, etc.). Yet, our defense cooperation is not just about military sales. It is about joint exercises, personnel exchanges, and professional military education that we conduct together, which is improving our capabilities in bringing humanitarian assistance to people in need, keeping shipping lanes open, and providing security to the region. Maritime security and anti-piracy efforts can grow. Two-way trade was up 30 percent in 2010 with opportunities for more in clean energy, technology, infrastructure, and services to name a few. We are partnering in health, education, and in third countries like Afghanistan and in Africa. The progress the U.S.-India global partnership has made under President Obama and Prime Minister Singh’s leadership has brought our two countries together in ways that were unthinkable just a decade ago. With our shared values and shared interests, our two powerful democracies have an opportunity to shape the world in a very positive way.

We have enjoyed fantastic relations and a number of successful events this past year with the American Chamber of Commerce (AmCham) at our side. They were there for many of the key moments during President Obama’s visit; they gave us wonderful support for our National Day reception; and they were strong advocates during our great showing at Aero India in Bangalore. Chairman Dinesh Keskar and Director Ajay Singha have done superb work so it gave me great pleasure to be the keynote speaker in Dinesh’s last event as the AmCham chairman at the AmCham’s 19th annual general meeting April 29. AmCham’s efforts play an important role in creating American jobs, achieving the President’s National Export Initiative, and championing American business interests. These are our Mission’s primary economic objectives to increase U.S. exports and produce more jobs for Americans. We are fortunate to have such a great partner in AmCham assisting us in our efforts.

We welcomed this week our Special Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan (SRAP) Ambassador Marc Grossman, who was making his first visit to India since taking on this important assignment. Following in the tradition of former SRAP Richard Holbrooke, Ambassador Grossman used his time in Delhi for strategic dialogue consultations with senior Indian government officials on our efforts in Afghanistan and Pakistan and to discuss the many ways the U.S.-India global partnership can benefit the people of Afghanistan through several joint projects. This was an excellent start to what I am sure will be very close relations and important consultations between Ambassador Grossman and the Indian government.

One of the things my family will miss most about our time in India are the opportunities we have had for volunteer service as a family for causes that really matter to us. We spent time Saturday afternoon at Mother Teresa’s Missionaries of Charity where we volunteer on a regular basis and as ever, we were warmed and humbled by the terrific work being done there and the joy of all of the children. The sisters of the Missionaries of Charity are doing unbelievable work, not just in Delhi, but throughout the world and making proud the legacy of Mother Teresa. We just finished sponsoring a clothes drive in the United States and had the pleasure today of delivering four boxes of summer clothes from America for the children with four additional boxes on their way.