Washington, June 27 (IANS) Six months into his tenure in India, US Ambassador Sergio Gor on Saturday asserted that India-US ties are on a strong footing, anchored by the close relationship between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and US President Donald Trump.
In an exclusive interview with IANS at the White House, Gor spoke about his experience in India so far, progress being made on the bilateral trade agreement, defence cooperation, energy security, H-1B visas, people-to-people ties and the immense potential of the strategic partnership.
Excerpts:
IANS: You have completed six months in India. What has your experience been like so far?
Ambassador Gor: I actually just got back from India yesterday. In these six months, it’s been an extraordinary time. I’ve gotten to travel all over the beautiful country and have met some incredible people all over the place and really, seeing the dynamic aspects of India and the incredible potential. I keep talking about this incredible potential, and mean it. You can look at any sector and the United States and India can work together and take it to the next level. Whether that’s something in the pharmaceutical industry, whether that’s IT, whether that’s defence cooperation, you name it, the United States and India can work together on it.
IANS: You have travelled extensively across India, which places have left the biggest impression on you?
Ambassador Gor: I don’t want to pick the best or not, but I will say I’ve been to some incredible places, everywhere from, obviously, Hyderabad, Chennai. I’m a big fan of Rajasthan, Jaipur. So there’s some incredible places. What I love about India is every hundred kilometres, you have an incredibly different area, right? And, so you have a different history, you have a different background in that area, different languages, different dialects. So the diversity of it is just absolutely incredible, and something that’s unmatched. Not a lot of countries have that.
IANS: When you arrived in India, there were concerns about the state of India-US relations. How do you assess the relationship today?
Ambassador Gor: I think we’re in a great place and one of the big anchors to that relationship is the relationship between the President (Donald Trump) and the Prime Minister (Narendra Modi). That has always remained strong. And so sometimes the media likes to portray it as if something happened. The President and Prime Minister are great friends. And that’s something that goes back years ago, and it’s something that will continue to go years ahead. And so, anytime the two speak, great things happen. My goal has been, since arriving there, to ensure that the two sides are regularly speaking and moving the ball forward. We’re able to identify these win-win situations for both of our countries.
IANS: You were present when Prime Minister Modi and President Trump met in France. Can you tell us something about that meeting?
Ambassador Gor: Yes, I was there. We had a fantastic meeting. It was very warm, over an hour together. They covered a lot of aspects, including, of course, the trade and some defence issues. It was a very productive meeting. We were able to bring up several issues, and hopefully some of those things will get announced over the next few weeks.
IANS: You have said the India-US trade agreement could be finalised in the coming weeks or months. Following the recent visit of the US Trade Representative to India, what are the remaining challenges?
Ambassador Gor: A lot of it, is the language has to be written, right? And, so I was in those meetings 48 hours ago with Ambassador Greer (United States Trade Representative Ambassador Jamieson Greer) in Delhi and we met with Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal, who’s a great friend of mine. We had a very productive meeting. There’s a handful of issues that remain. A lot of it now is on the language that ultimately both sides will sign. So, we’re confident that over the next few weeks, or over the next few months, it will get done. Look, to put it in perspective, we’ve been working on this deal for a year and a half. The European Union deal, which is still not done, is 20 years. Everybody says, ‘Why is this taking so long?’ We’re on an incredible trajectory of getting it done.
IANS: What should both countries expect once the agreement is finalised?
Ambassador Gor: I don’t want to reveal way too much. You’re going to have to wait and see, but both sides will be happy. Right, it’s one of those things. When you find common ground, and we’re able to identify things that are good for each side, that’s when the deal happens.
IANS: President Trump has spoken about visiting India, is there any timeline for that visit?
Ambassador Gor: I don’t have exact dates yet, but I just left the President; I was with him for several hours in the Oval Office, which is probably 20 metres away from where you and I are sitting. And one of the things the President asked about is, when am I coming? So, he’s very keen to come. The Prime Minister invited him, and so I think that will happen at some point.
IANS: Do you expect that visit to take place this year or next year?
Ambassador Gor: I can’t give you dates yet. As you know, we have midterms coming up here in the United States. So the President has a very hectic and busy schedule, focusing on domestic travel, but with that said, India’s high on the list of places where he’ll visit soon.
IANS: Having witnessed closely the work being done by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in India, what are your impressions of his leadership?
Ambassador Gor: He is incredibly dynamic, he’s incredibly hands-on, and he’s results-driven. In a way, I see a lot of similarities between him and President Trump because they both love being hands-on and getting things done and accomplishing things fast. The Prime Minister wants something done, he moves on it. The President is the same way. So ultimately, I think one of the core anchors of their relationship is they think alike. They want to deliver, and that’s something that I think is great for both sides.
IANS: You met President Trump just before this interview. What is his vision for the India-US relationship?
Ambassador Gor: The President is very warm on India. I mean you heard it even last week when we were together in France with the Prime Minister. He spoke very highly of India. Our relationship with India is very deep, it goes back a long time. The President holds the Prime Minister and India in highest regard. He has always talked about the Prime Minister being a great friend of his personally, and he always reminds me of his first trip to India and the vibrancy that he saw there. It’s something that he’s never forgotten.
IANS: What is your own vision for the future of the India-US partnership?
Ambassador Gor: Look, I think the vision is, if you look at concrete items that we can work together on, for example, IT or data centres, you have incredible things happening back and forth, right? So, Amazon announced a 40-plus billion-dollar deal in India this week. Whether it’s Microsoft or Google, every one of those individuals is going over there. At the same time, a lot of Indian companies are coming to the United States. So, as far as our commercial diplomacy is concerned, it’s an incredible place we’re at right now. All the embassies around the world compete to bring investment back into the United States. We were very proud that our embassy in India was number one. You know, some embassies announce 300 million, 500 million. We announced over 20 billion in one year of new investments that the embassy was involved in. So bringing those things to a higher level, we do have limitless potential.
IANS: People-to-people ties have always been a strong pillar of the India-US relationship. How do you see these connections evolving?
Ambassador Gor: Absolutely. I think that’s something that has happened for a long time. It’s something that continues… Whether it’s individuals travelling to India, individuals travelling here, it’s a great thing. People appreciate American culture and Americans appreciate Indian culture.
IANS: There have been concerns regarding H-1B visas and reports of rising hate crimes in the United States. How would you respond to those concerns?
Ambassador Gor: This is not targetted at India. Right. So in the United States, we had to take a course on the whole immigration system. Every kind of visa. Unfortunately, under previous administrations, our borders were wide open. That’s something the President wanted to fix on day one. It’s actually something the Prime Minister relates to. When I listen to the Prime Minister speaking in India, he talks about no illegal migrants. We 100 per cent agree with that. And so this, none of it is targetted at India necessarily. It’s one of the things that we needed to take stock of; we want to know who’s coming here from all over the world. Of course, India’s a massive population so you’re impacted by it but things continue. I’ll tell you this: our Embassy is one of the busiest embassies in the world as it relates to visas, as you know. So, it’s the people-to-people ties that will continue, trade will continue, commerce will continue. India exports more to the United States than any other country in the world. India does more defence exercises with the United States than any other country in the world. So we have incredible things happening, and we’ll continue building on that.
IANS: India has significant energy requirements and recent developments in West Asia have impacted global energy markets. How do you see India-US cooperation in the energy sector?
Ambassador Gor: I think we’ve already seen an incredible increase in energy coming from the United States. And for India, that’s a good thing. You want to be diversified. You should not have all your energy supplies coming from one place. And so, we absolutely welcome that. Unfortunately, when Iran decided to shut down the Strait of Hormuz, which is an international waterways, the whole world was impacted by it. So having different sources is a good thing for every country.
IANS: During the US Independence Day celebrations in New Delhi, President Trump said, ‘Ask me anything, I’ll give you’… Has India since then sought any specific requests from the United States?
Ambassador Gor: Right, there are things that India has asked. Some of them are not public, but I think those are things that I’m excited about because we do want to work with India. We do a lot to do with India; we’ll continue on doing that, and it comes down to trust. The United States trusts India; President Trump trusts Prime Minister Modi. There’s a lot of things that we can do together, and we’ll continue building on that. It’s all over the place. I mean, you could see whether it’s Pax Silica or AI… Some of this is public and I’m not giving you any secrets. But, you can look at the Indian news; you have Indian delegations here this week, discussing some of these items.
IANS: As we conclude, would you like to share any final thoughts?
Ambassador Gor: Six months went by fast. Right. It’s been an incredible six months. I’m results-driven, we wanted to get results, move the ball forward, whether it’s Pax Silica, finalising the trade deal, increasing defence cooperation. Every single week, I tell my team what is it that we’re going to achieve this week and deliver. So, that’s something I’ll continue building upon, and I look forward to being in India back next week.
IANS: Many people within the White House describe you as one of the most influential US Ambassadors in recent generations. How do you respond to that?
Ambassador Gor: I listen; those are very kind words. I’ll say, I’m doing my best. I care about this relationship, I want to be in India and we have an incredible President here who’s very receptive and very open, and that makes my job easier. Thank you so much.
–IANS
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