President Donald Trump has named Sergio Gor, one of his closest aides, to be the next US ambassador to India, a crucial appointment at a time of strained relations with the major Asian ally.
Mr Gor, who is currently director of the White House Presidential Personnel Office, would also serve as a special envoy for South and Central Asian affairs, Mr Trump said in a post on his Truth Social account on Friday.
“Sergio is a great friend, who has been at my side for many years. He worked on my historic presidential campaigns, published my best-selling books, and ran one of the biggest super PACs, which supported our movement,” Mr Trump wrote.
“For the most populous region in the world, it is important that I have someone I can fully trust to deliver on my agenda and help us Make America Great Again.”
Mr Gor thanked Mr Trump for the nomination and said it would be “the honour of my life” to represent the United States in the role, in a post on X. His appointment will have to be confirmed by the US Senate.
Mr Gor, 38, has long been involved in conservative politics, having worked for a number of Republican congressmen before joining a fundraising committee for Mr Trump in 2020. He has become one of the most powerful Trump aides in the President’s second term, tasked with vetting about 4,000 appointees for loyalty.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio quickly endorsed Mr Gor’s nomination, saying he would be an “excellent representative of America in one of the most important relationships our nation has in the world” in a post on X.
The previous US ambassador to India, Eric Garcetti, stepped down on January 20 as Mr Trump took office.
Ties between the US and India, which Washington considers a key ally in countering China’s growing influence in Asia, have been strained by Mr Trump's trade war.
Negotiations to lower US tariffs on Indian goods collapsed after India, the world's fifth-largest economy, resisted opening its vast agricultural and dairy sectors.
The US was India’s largest trading partner for a fourth consecutive year in 2024-25, with bilateral trade worth nearly $132 billion, according to Indian government data.
Mr Trump's announcement of Mr Gor's nomination came shortly after the abrupt cancellation of a planned visit by US trade negotiators to New Delhi next week.
The US President first imposed additional tariffs of 25 per cent on imports from India, then said they would double to 50 per cent from August 27 as punishment for New Delhi's increased purchases of oil from Russia. He has not imposed similar tariffs on goods from China, the biggest purchaser of Russian oil.
US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent this week accused India of “profiteering” with its sharply increased purchases of Russian oil during the war in Ukraine, and said Washington viewed the situation as unacceptable.
Mr Bessent told CNBC in an interview that Russian oil accounts for 42 per cent of India's total oil purchases, up from less than one per cent before the war started in February 2022. He said China, the largest buyer of Russian oil, had increased its share to 16 per cent from 13 per cent.
Mr Trump threatened earlier this month to slap additional sanctions on Russia and secondary sanctions on buyers of its oil, in an attempt to pressure Moscow to end the war. However, he said “we don’t have to think about that right now” after a meeting with the Russian President Vladimir Putin in Alaska last week.
