Posts from — May 2009

Subject to Senate confirmation,  former  Congressman TIm Roemer, will become President Obama’s ambassador to India.  If confirmed, he will succeed David Mulford who returned to the US in February this year.

Roemer is a native of South Bend, Indiana and was a member of the bipartisan 9/11 commission formed in the wake of the terrorist attacks of 2001.

Roemer obtained his first degree from US San Diego before returning to his Catholic roots and pursuing a an MA and PhD at the University of Notre Dame. He was one of Candidata Obama’s very early supporters.

This weekin Mumbai, India, President and Chief Executive Officer of Westinghouse Electric Company Aris S Candris and Chairman and Managing Director of NPCIL S K Jain signed a memorandum of understanding to begin discussions on the sale of several AP1000 nuclear reactors. This enable the company that has supplied technology for half the world’s reactors to make the first steps to enter India’s market.

Last October India and the United States signed a landmark civilian nuclear energy treaty that enables India to nuclear import technology and products.  France’s Areva has already shipped 60 tons of Uranium for the country’s current plants and Kazakhstan’s President has signed an agreement for the country to supply addition fuel. Areva has also been assigned a site for construction of its first nuclear power plant in India, probably in Ratnagiri district.  GE-Hitachi signed an MOU with NPCIL, India  a short while ago.

No, this is not a man bites dog story! The India market continues to grow and in certain sectors, it still makes sense to expand vigorously.  One such segment is luxury cars, where Volvo  (a subsidiary of Ford Motor Company) announced that it increase the number of cities in which it operates in India from five(New Delhi, Mumbai, Chandigarh, Kochi and Hyderabad) to nine this year.

Volvo presently sells the S80 sedan and the XC60 crossover vehicle in India, imported from its European factory. Its competitors such as BMW and Mercedez-Benz have begun limited manufacturing/assembly in country.  According to Paul de Voij, head of the India operation,  the company plans to open new dealerships in Pune, Chennai, Bangalore, Ahmedabad, Jaipur and Kolkata, but appears to have no plans to manufacture in India .

On issues that matter to the the Administration, President Obama’s statements and positions have been nuanced, balanced and thoughtful. One may disagree or agree with the attitude towards gays in the military, toward the closing of Guantanomo prisons, the handling of TARP funds, but few would dispute that the White House takes time to consider the shades of gray before making stark or insensitive statements.

In this light. I am irked by the statement on India’s recent elections, which seems to have been written by someone with little knowledge of India and certainly none towards Indian sensibilities.  Why do I say that.

“President obama congratulates India in its historic national elections”. Historic? Surely they are not talking about the historic use of all-electronic polling (India does not worry about hanging chads anymore). I don’t think so.  The American elections of 2000 and 2008 were historic for problems in counting and for electing an African American.  But history won’t find the 2009 India elections as particularly notable.   The election process in India is quite routine after 60 years of democracy (which include universal suffrage  for all citizens regardless of color or gender, from Day One).

The statement goes on to say “the elections have strengthened India’s vibrant democracy”.  Well may be by 0.00001 per cent,  Mr. President.  Most Americans would be irked if anyone talked about “strengthening” the democracy of the United States or of the UK, France or Germany. Democracy is a given in today’s India.  I suspect the write of this press release simply did a Ctrl-V paste from earlier news about Pakistan, Iraq or Afghanistan, where American dollars are being spent to “strengthen” the government or the electoral process.

I am sure that the write of this press release meant well. As  “The India Expert” I must point out how so many well intentioned Americans embarrass themselves, their companies and their people by remarks that are not fully thought out from the Indian perspective.

The key problem is that India is suffering from “benign neglect” by the Obama administration.  There is no US Ambassador to India, five months into the Presidency.  The civil nuclear treaty between the US and India has not benefitted American companies or created American jobs yet, in part due to red-tape on the American side.

The Obama administration has big domestic problems. But surely they can find a few competent people to address India, the world’s largest democracy, a key buyer of American goods, the home of Asia’s oldest stock market, an outpost of freedom  in a rough neighborhood and a provide of 70,000 foreign students to American school.

Proving to be the most flexible senior member of Dr. Manmohan Singh’s cabinet, Bengali lawyer Pranab Mukherjee will take charge of the Finance Ministry, handing over  his prior role of Foreign Minister to SM Krishna.  Mukherjee has also held the position of Defence Minister from 2004 to 2006. In both his prior roles, Mukherjee has had plenty of exposure to high-profile interaction with the United States and the West in general relating to the signing of the US-India Civil Nuclear Agreement, to the inroads made by American prime contractors in supplying weapons and technlogy to India’s armed forces and in general on increasing alignment between India and the West. Mukherjee’s political career began in the 1960′s and the 73-year-old has held many positions in government and in party leadership over the years.

The other candidate for the Finance Minister position, Montek Singh Ahluwalia, was apparently rule out by Congress Party President Sonia Gandhi, who preferred an elected official for this role, rather than an appointee who is not a politician.

By all accounts, Mukherjee should prove to be a strong and directed Finance Minister. One of his first tasks at hand is to present a final budget for the current fiscal year