New Delhi: The United States of America’s ambassador-designate to India Sergio Gor on Thursday said the two countries were “not that far apart” to close a trade deal”.
During his confirmation hearing before the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Gor emphasised the important task facing the US administration: preventing India from importing oil from Russia.
He highlighted the exchange of numerous ideas regarding the trade deal, indicating that it is progressing positively and nearing completion. He said that if “not that far” mutual understanding on tariffs was exactly the case, “a very promising agreement” might help to get over the oil issue.
“Sometimes we ask India for more things than we do other countries. I believe that this case will be solved within the next couple of weeks,”he said when forecasting a solution soon.
Gor, while emphasising India as a vital “strategic partner” of America, talked about India’s geographical location, economic rise, and military power as the main factors of regional peace and common security concerns. Besides, he declared that he would work out the American advantages in this essential alliance under the “strong leadership” of Trump.
Despite the current tension over tariffs, Gor was positive about the cooperation between Trump and Modi and called it “great”. “If you have paid attention, you might have noticed that whenever he (Trump) targets other countries, he also targets their leaders, who are bringing us into such a position and imposing tariffs on America. At the same time, when the President criticises India, he is the first to come forward and praise Prime Minister Modi,” Gor said.
Gor’s nomination by Trump in August remains to be approved by the Senate. Senator Marco Rubio, after introducing Gor, praised the US-India relationship as one of America’s best in the world and said it was going to be crucial in future global dynamics. In the context of broader geopolitical changes, the US is applying sanctions on Russia to reduce its influence and India’s dependence on Russian oil, despite the ongoing purchases.
Although Russian oil sold at a discount is the main reason for India’s continued purchases, Gor’s historic portrayal is more conciliatory than confrontational.
People in the know accept this as a reorientation of policy, realising a higher level of cooperation in areas such as defence and technology transfer. The Modi-Trump friendship may serve as a foundation for the deal to remake Indo-Pacific economics, as it will allow for the mutual growth of the partner states as well as the provision of global markets with clean alternatives in an innovative manner, for example, via LNG or joint solar energy projects in the US.
Moreover, it is not only about trade for Gor: picturing India as a partner who can help solve regional problems beyond trading, they could engage in activities like AI-driven supply chains or environmentally-resilient agriculture pacts, which are born out of several decades of US-India goodwill evolution.