New Delhi : US President Donald Trump’s nominee for the next ambassador to India, Sergio Gor, said on Thursday that the Trump administration wants India, with its massive middle-class market larger than that of the US. He said, we fully intend in these trade talks that are ongoing right now to open the markets to crude oil, petroleum products, liquefied natural gas. You are talking about a population of 1.4 billion individuals there. Their middle class, by our definition, is larger than the entire United States of America.
The top US official’s comments, at a Senate committee hearing for the position of US ambassador to India, came at a time when the Trump administration has been pressuring India to end its oil trade with Russia, alleging that the deal helps Moscow fund its war in Ukraine, a demand India has unequivocally rejected.
The Ambassador highlighted the deep friendship between the leaders of the two nations, noting that while India and the US may be experiencing a rough patch, they are on track to overcome it.
Our President has a deep friendship with Prime Minister Modi, which is unique. If you’ve noticed, when he goes after other nations, he tends to go after their leaders for putting us in that position and for the United States imposing those tariffs.
Commenting on New Delhi’s recent rapprochement with China, Gor, specifically referring to the SCO summit, said, “International relations are much more than a photo opportunity,” adding that India shares deeper and warmer ties with the US than with China.
While we might have our moment of hiccups right now, we are on the track of resolving that. Our relationship with the Indian government and the Indian people extends many more decades, and it’s a much warmer relationship than they have with the Chinese. Chinese expansionism is not just on the border with India, it’s all over the area. We will make it a top priority that India is pulled into our side and away from them, he said.
The Ambassador-designate, a close aide to Trump and director of the White House Presidential Personnel Office, said Washington and New Delhi are “not that far apart” on tariffs, suggesting that trade issues could be resolved in the coming weeks. He added that despite recent disagreements over tariffs and India’s purchases of Russian oil, the US-India relationship remains warm and strategically important.
However, in the past, India’s protectionist policies and regulatory barriers have prevented us from fully realising this partnership,” he added. Gor told senators, We’re not that far apart on a deal on these tariffs. I do think it will get resolved in the next few weeks. He also said that the US and India share long-term strategic goals and a “much warmer relationship than they have with the Chinese.
The hearing pointed towards a subtle reset in US-India relations, following weeks of diplomatic friction. In an unusual move, Secretary of State Marco Rubio introduced Gor to the Senate panel. India is one of the top relationships the United States has in the world today in terms of the future of what the world’s going to look like, Rubio said.
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