Is US envoy victim of failed deal?

It is hard to draw an immediate link between the resignation of US ambassador Timothy Roemer on Thursday and India jettisoning the US bid for its $10-million Medium Multirole Combat Aircraft deal a day earlier. The assumption that Roemer quit for failing to clinch the deal for Boeing and Lockheed-Martin, could be far-fetched. But the co-incidence is interesting. Even Roemer said his country was “deeply disappointed”. [caption id=“attachment_3139” align=“alignright” width=“380” caption=“Flying off: Former US ambassador to India Timothy J. Roemer talks to students on the outskirts of Srinagar. Fayaz Kabli/Reuters”]  [/caption] On Wednesday, India had ignored the bids of the American firms citing they failed to meet technical standards. The rejection would have hit the US hard since it had launched a sturdy campaign over the last four years to bag the contract. President Barack Obama, too, had pitched strongly for American fighters during his visit here. Does the development threaten India’s ties with the US? Will the US be less enthusiastic about India’s UN Security Council bid from now on? “Disappointment” could have its repercussions. But by all indications, the Indo-US relation is not likely to take a hit. It has been maturing over the last decade, specially since the days of George Bush through the civil nuclear deal, and neither country would like to reverse it now.