The US ambassador nominee for India Timothy Roemer has said that addressing the pressing issue of poverty in India through Indo-US relationship would be a top priority for him as America's top diplomat in New Delhi.
"This (poverty in India) would be a key priority for me as the next ambassador.
The US President is extremely interested in this, as the secretary of state is," Roemer told US lawmakers at confirmation hearing when senator Richard Lugar citing a recent World Bank report informed him that there are 828 million Indians living on less than $2 a day.
"As you know, (Indian) Prime Minister (Manmohan) Singh campaigned vigorously in the rural communities, where about 70 per cent of the Indian population resides, trying to promise the benefits of prosperity and global trade, to more and more of the people that live on less than $2 or $1.25 per day," he said.
Noting that there are statistics which say that 456 million Indians live on less than $1.25 a day, Roemer said: "This is an opportunity again -- for our government, our businesses, our NGOs, microenterprise loans for the poor -- to all work together, to scale up some successful projects, not necessarily by taxpayer or always by the state department but through the private sector, to address this issue of poverty."
