When the new US envoy to India, Timothy J. Roemer, met captains of Indian industry recently, his speech had the flavour of an American campaign. “I know this is not the Oprah Winfrey show,” Roemer told top business honchos sitting under the crystal chandeliers of a luxury hotel in Lutyen’s Delhi.

But the flamboyant six-time US Congressman from Indiana could not resist the flourishes of a politico. Instead of standing at the podium, he stepped down and launched into an eloquent speech on the entire gamut of India-US relations, walking across the room, all the time making an eye contact with the audience.

“I have seen a lot of US ambassadors, but I have not seen anybody make a speech like you have done,” said a slightly bemused Tarun Das, CII’s chief mentor.