New Delhi: US Ambassador to India designate Sergio Gor, who is also President Donald Trump’s special envoy for South and Central Asian affairs, will be arriving next week to formally take charge.
Sources familiar with the matter said that Gor is expected to formally present his credentials soon after arriving in India.
He is expected to arrive Monday early morning.
Gor formally taking over the charge handed by Trump in August last year comes at a time when bilateral ties between the two countries have hit a rough patch over multiple issues.
The most concerning issue being the 50 percent tariff imposed by Trump and the failure of both sides to firm up the much awaited trade deal amid a slugfest over credit for ending the 88 hour conflict between India and Pakistan, besides purchase of Russian oil.
Gor, who was earlier the director of the White House Presidential Personnel Office, is also the special envoy for South and Central Asian affairs.
Given that it is the first time that an American ambassador is holding the dual charge, it will be interesting to see how Gor goes about doing his work and what his mandate is.
Gor had arrived in India in October for a brief visit during which he met with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, besides Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri.
Jaishankar had also met Gor on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) session in New York on 24 September.
During his Senate confirmation hearing on 12 September, Gor highlighted the “deep friendship” between US President Donald Trump and Prime Minister Narendra Modi, calling it a unique strength in advancing bilateral ties.
India, he told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, is a strategic partner whose trajectory will shape the region and beyond.
“India’s geographic position, economic growth, and military capabilities make it a cornerstone of regional stability and a critical part of promoting prosperity and advancing the security interests that our nations share,” he said.
“As Secretary (Marco) Rubio said, India is one of the most important relationships our nation has in the world. If confirmed, I will prioritise deepening defence and security cooperation with India.”
The post of ambassador to India remained vacant since Trump assumed the Presidency on 20 January last year. Eric Garcetti, the former mayor of Los Angeles, was the previous America envoy.
As ThePrint reported in August last year, Gor has been involved with Republican politicians for the better part of the last two decades.
However, his growth in Trump’s second administration comes along with his nearly 5-year long partnership with the President’s son Donald Trump Jr.
Reported to have been born in Uzbekistan in the erstwhile Soviet Union in 1986, his parents moved to Malta before emigrating to the US at the end of the last millennium.
In 2008, Gor is said to have worked for the Presidential campaign of Republican nominee John McCain before going on to be the spokesperson for a number of Republican representatives, including Steve King in 2010 and Michele Bachmann in 2011.
A couple of years later, Gor joined a political action committee (PAC) supporting Senator Rand Paul, and eventually became the Senator’s deputy chief of staff in 2018.
Eventually in 2020, Gor moved to become the chief of staff to the Trump Victory Finance Committee, a joint fundraising committee between the Republican National Committee and the Trump campaign.
(Edited by Tony Rai)