NEW DELHI - The new US ambassador to India, Timothy John Tim Roemer arrives here Thursday night, a day before Secretary of State Hillary Clinton begins her five-day India visit.

“He is coming here primarily for the Clinton visit. He will take charge later in the month, a US embassy source said.

Roemer’s appointment has been confirmed by the US Senate.

An expert on non-proliferation and weapons of mass destruction, Roemer, the former Democrat Congressman from Indiana and a former member of the 9/11 Commission, is said to be close to President Barack Obama.

Roemer, 52, is known for his moderate, bipartisan politics, and national security experience. He will succeed David Mulford, who played a key role in pushing the India-US nuclear deal during the second term of the George W. Bush presidency.

Roemer now serves on the Commission on the Prevention of Weapons of Mass Destruction Proliferation and Terrorism. He represented Indiana’s Third District from 1991 to 2003, and was among those who had endorsed Obama in his early electoral campaign phase.

Roemer also serves on the Washington Institute for Near East Policy’s Presidential Task Force on Combating the Ideology of Radical Extremism, and the National Parks Second Century Commission. His name was earlier doing the rounds for the post of CIA director, which eventually went to Leon Panetta.

Roemer’s appointment as the ambassador to India reflects the Obama administration’s determination to build strategic partnership with this important South Asian country, said the Moderate Voice, a US magazine. “It may also mark the turning point in the Indo-US relationship.”