You know Ahasja, you're not the only one who's considered this possiblity.  I don't want to come off sounding like a culturalist (POET has had many South Asian executives, so there's a natural link with India)...but I wouldn't begrudge the strategy by the company to recruit people who may have connections or ties to foreign markets.

Afterall, India has 1.3 BILLION inhabitants.  Between Canada and the US, 350 million.  Might this have been a private aspiration all the way back to Ajit's hire?  And also, if you're the Indian government, who would you rather do business with?   Again, I don't want this to sound racist, but instead logical. 

To me, this RFP sounds like when you find the perfect candidate for the job, but must post the job publicly. The qualifications are suited to the specific applicant you want, and the time period for application is (relatively) short.