'India is strategic partner': Trump's envoy pick Sergio Gor hails New Delhi; cites Russian oil cuts as top concern

NEW DELHI: Sergio Gor, US President Donald Trump’s nominee to be the next US Ambassador to India, on Thursday described India as “a strategic partner, whose trajectory will shape the region and beyond.”“India is a strategic partner whose trajectory will shape the region and beyond. Under President Donald Trump’s strong leadership, I’m committed to advancing America’s interest in this important partnership,” Gor said at his confirmation hearing before the senate foreign relations committee.Gor addressed one of Trump administration’s top priorities- reducing India’s reliance on Russian crude. “To your point, getting India to stop buying Russian oil is a top priority for this administration,” he said, as quoted by ANI.On trade, he emphasised the need for greater access for American energy exports. “We fully intend in these trade talks that our ongoing right now to open the markets to crude oil, petroleum products, liquified natural gas. You're talking about a population of 1.4 billion individuals there. Their middle class by our definition is larger than an entire United States of America and so we have countless possibilities to expand into those markets and wwe fully intend to do that," said Gor.He added that Trump has invited India’s commerce and trade ministers to Washington next week for talks with US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer. The meeting comes against the backdrop of escalating trade tensions, after the Trump administration imposed a 25% tariff on India for its crude oil purchases from Russia.Democratic senator Jeanne Shaheen pressed Gor on why India had been penalised while China, despite purchasing more Russian oil, had not. Gor replied, “We hold our friends to different standards. Frankly, we expect more from India than we do sometimes from other nations.”If confirmed, the 38-year-old would become the youngest US ambassador to India. Trump announced Gor’s promotion last month from director of presidential personnel to ambassador-designate and special envoy for south and central asian affairs.