By IANS,
New Delhi : Hours before Secretary of State Hillary Clinton lands in Mumbai to begin her five-day India visit, US ambassador-designate to India Timothy J. Roemer met Foreign Secretary Shivshankar Menon here Friday and discussed the agenda for talks.
Roemer met Menon at his South Block office for nearly an hour and discussed pacts that are likely to be signed after Clinton holds talks with External Affairs Minister S.M. Krishna here Monday.
“Namaste. It is good to be in India,” was all the envoy would tell the waiting journalists after his meeting with Menon.
The nomination of Roemer, a former House of Representatives member, was confirmed by the Senate last week.
Roemer will formally take charge later this month after he presents his credentials to President Pratibha Patil. He arrived in Delhi Thursday night.
A six-term congressman from Indiana, the 52-year-old Roemer is known for his moderate, bipartisan politics and national security experience. He will succeed David Mulford, who played a key role in pushing the India-US nuclear deal during the second term of the George W. Bush presidency.
An expert on non-proliferation and weapons of mass destruction, Roemer, a former member of the 9/11 Commission, is said to be close to President Barack Obama. Roemer now serves on the Commission on the Prevention of Weapons of Mass Destruction, Proliferation and Terrorism.