Ambassador Ronen Sen

ATLANTA: In an interview with the Atlanta Journal-Constitution last week, India’s newly-appointed ambassador to the United States, Ronen Sen, talked about his country’s new government, the war on terrorism and the outsourcing of jobs. Here are some excerpts.

Q: Do you see the new government in India recalibrating its policy toward Washington?

RONEN SEN On the 21st of September, shortly after I presented my credentials, the first foreign leader President Bush met with was our prime minister, in New York. As they themselves described, the relationship between India and the United States has never been as good as it is today.

Q: What makes the relationship so good?

SEN If you look at the U.S. doctrine, it reflects a perception of India as a growing global power with which the United States has common strategic objectives. When they had this meeting –– President Bush and our prime minster, Dr. Manmohan Singh –– they agreed that the topmost priority was to make the world a safer place, that is, to combat international terrorism.

Q: And the Indian government is comfortable with and supports this administration’s approach to the war on terrorism?

SEN You know, 9/11 has brought home that this is a global menace. People used to think that these are regional problems due to regional issues. Now it’s recognized that globalization is not just in trade and commerce. All countries in the world must ensure that there should be no safe haven for these people.

Q: Outsourcing of jobs has come up in the U.S. presidential campaign. What is your take on outsourcing? Who wins and who loses?

SEN I think there are no winners and losers. Outsourcing is helping American companies to remain competitive by concentrating on their core competencies and getting high-quality services at more competitive rates. When you have American companies retaining their competitive edge and remaining viable, you are preserving jobs rather than going into the red. For a person who has lost his job, the larger picture is one thing, but for him, it’s personal. We need to engage more in conveying to unions, conveying to the folks who are affected.

Q: Which candidate would be more beneficial for U.S.-Indian relations, President Bush or Sen. John Kerry?

SEN (Laughs.) I prefer not to answer; that’s the last thing I would do as a diplomat. I was at the Republican convention and met with a number of people. I was not here for the Democratic convention because I couldn’t come here in time –– my appointment was not through. We have a very strong bipartisan consensus in the United States. This is reflected in the “India Caucus” in the House of Representatives, which happens to be the biggest single-country caucus in the U.S. Congress, evenly divided between Republicans and Democrats. And we have the first single-country caucus ever in the Senate.

Q: Your prime minister and the Pakistani leader met about two weeks ago. What came out of that meeting, and what do you see as the future of relations between the two countries?

SEN We attach great importance to normalizing relations with our third-largest neighbor, Pakistan. We believe the present state of the relationship is unnatural and not to anybody’s benefit. The sooner we get this relationship on an even keel, the better it is for both countries, the region and the world. The meeting between President Pervez Musharraf and Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh was held in a very warm, friendly atmosphere. There was a clear commitment on both sides to take forward what we call the composite dialogue on different areas, from trade and investments to issues which are contentious, like differences on the state of Jammu and Kashmir.

Q: Atlanta has a thriving, substantial Indian-American community. How do members of the diaspora in the United States influence societies in both India and the United States?

SEN The first thing about people of Indian origin in other countries is to be true to their own cultural heritage. There should be no divided loyalties. Be true patriots in the country of your citizenship. Try to give back to the community more than you receive. And when you talk about community, don’t talk about your community as Indian-Americans. Talk about the entire community, the area where you live. In that way you help to build up much more understanding of India and Indians and the Indian way of life.

(By Permission, The New York Times)