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New Delhi: US President Donald Trump's nominee for ambassador to India, Sergio Gor, has said that Washington and New Delhi are "not that far apart" on a trade deal, signalling progress in ongoing negotiations between the two countries.
Appearing before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Gor said discussions had moved to the "nitty-gritty" stage. "We hold our friends to different standards," he said, adding that the US expects more from India than other nations.
Gor told senators that Trump has invited India's commerce and trade ministers to visit Washington next week for talks with Ambassador Jamieson Greer, the US Trade Representative, where a deal is expected to be finalised.
Senator Bill Hagerty, speaking in support of Gor's nomination, said: "Our relationship with India is now more important than ever. At this time, we need someone in India who has a direct line to President Trump. When Sergio Gor speaks, New Delhi will know he speaks for the President."
Gor also underlined Trump's personal rapport with Prime Minister Narendra Modi. "If you've noticed, when he goes after other nations he goes after their leaders. When President Trump has been critical of India, he goes out of his way to compliment Modi," he said.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio called India "one of the top relationships America has today in terms of the future of the world", stressing its role as a strategic partner whose trajectory will shape the region and beyond.
At the same hearing, Senator Jim Risch urged Gor to take a firm line on India's Russian oil imports. "Trump has taken action to address India's dangerous purchases of Russian oil. I hope you will double down and tell your Indian counterparts that America will not tolerate support for Putin's war machine," he said.
Meanwhile, US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick expressed confidence about reaching a trade agreement with India, but stressed the need for New Delhi to liberalise markets and stop importing Russian oil. "We are going to sort out with India, they have to open up their markets and stop buying Russian oil," he told CNBC, noting that the US has imposed a 25 per cent additional tariff on India over crude trade with Moscow.
