Karl Inderfurth goes to Congress

Ambassador Karl Inderfurth, widely tipped to be the next US Ambassador to India, was in Congress on the 26th of February to testify before the House Subcommittee on the Middle East and South Asia at a Hearing on Building a Strategic Partnership:U.S.-India Relations in the Wake of Mumbai. His views were pretty much gung ho about India, as expected from someone who might become Ambassador. What was widely reported in the press was his assertion that the UN resolutions on Kashmir were no longer relevant.

What did not figure in the press reports was the brush up between Republican Congressman Rohrbacher and Inderfurth, with Rohrbacher harking back to the policies pushed by Inderfurth while he was in government which the Congressman had opposed, and on which, in retrospect, he turned out to be right. This, according to the Congressman, was evidence of Inderfurth’s professional incompetence, which he advised the current Administration to keep in mind when considering Inderfurth for any position. You can view for yourself this exchange on the webcast of the proceedings available here. (You will need a Realplayer available at real.com to view the webcast) The exchanges took place at the 20:59 mark as well as the 01:00:07 mark.

Though I have viewed Committee sessions, this is the first occasion I can recollect of a witness being harangued in this manner. The fact that it was not reported anywhere probably indicates it is part of the normal rough and tumble of Congress. Inderfurth was quite unruffled during the exchange, saying that he had expected something of this sort to take place, but would focus on the topic for which he had been invited. Lisa Curtis of the Heritage Foundation, the other witness, tried to come to his rescue, citing some new material she had found, but only muddied the waters further. The whole exercise seemed to be with the intention of denying Inderfurth a stab at the Ambassadorship but to me, it seems to have been a stillborn one. Nonetheless, an interesting episode revolving around egos and party political loyalties.