In farewell speech, US envoy Richard Verma says, ties with India on upward course

Verma, whose tenure has been abruptly cut short since Trump wanted all political appointees to demit office by January 20, warned that the American society has to guard against counter-reaction against immigrants. “Some have raised doubts about the current direction of politics in the United States and whether our traditions of diversity and openness are eroding,’’ he said. “We have confronted such doubts and headwinds in the past… and the American ideals upon which our country was founded have always prevailed; they will do so again.’’ He added that it will require a resolve and commitment to speak up for those who may need a helping hand. “It will require us to live up to our finest traditions, to embrace diversity and to celebrate America as the great melting pot that it is.”

He said that tolerance is among the fundamental core values of the US that are reflected in law, in the Constitution and in practices. “So it is what the country is built upon. So we have to think about what are the pressures upon these kind of open and free and diverse society that we have. To go back to 2008, we had a great financial crisis (which) impacted people. We had massive traditional manufacturing job losses. We had new jobs; still people are feeling the pain of globalisation,’’ he said. “It is not just in the US, but across the world. In many developed countries, they are asking the question what happened. And lot of times when you ask that question you look for counter reaction. We have to guard against that reaction is somehow directed against immigrants to the country or directed against people of goodwill.”

Verma called cross-border terrorism a “serious threat” and said it is not for “anyone’s lack of effort” that perpetrators of terrorist attacks continue to roam free in Pakistan. He added that terrorist leaders have been addressed in “serious terms”. He called unfinished trials of 2008 Mumbai terror attacks and terrorism a “very vexing” problem and the top-most threat confronting the US, India and the people of Pakistan.