US President Donald Trump's nominee for the post of Ambassador to India, Sergio Gor, informed the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Thursday that the President is still committed to the QUAD outreach and indicated that Trump may visit India for the summit.
India is scheduled to host the Quad Leaders Summit later this year, though the exact date has not been finalized. During Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to the US in February, he extended an invitation to Trump to attend the meeting.
Speaking at his confirmation hearing, Gor said, "The President is fully committed to continuing to meet with the Quad and strengthening it."
When asked what actions he would take to strengthen the India-US cooperation on QUAD, Gor said, "The QUAD is vitally important. After Secretary Rubio was sworn in and clapped in at the State Department, one hour after, his first meeting was with the Foreign Ministers of QUAD. The President is committed to continual engagement with the Quad. There have already been talks about a trip for the next Quad meeting."
Commenting on the joint military exercise between India and the US, Gor told the senate, "On your earlier point of joint troop exercises, those continue to occur and we would fully encourage that to grow. Just last week we had 500 Indian troops train with our troops in Alaska, that's a great thing. So inspite of this little hiccup we've had over tariffs, our relationship is much stronger, it's build on many more decades and I will do everything in my power should I be confirmed to enhance that. "
QUAD is a strategic alliance that includes India, the US, Japan, and Australia and is oriented towards building a peaceful and prosperous Indo-Pacific.
Gor's supportive comments follow recent tensions regarding tariffs and the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit in Tianjin, where leaders India, Russia, and China met. Trump had remarked on the summit through Truth Social, stating, "Looks like we've lost India and Russia to deepest, darkest China. May they have a long and prosperous future together!"
On the issue of the joint military exercises between the US and India, Gor informed the Senate, "On your previous point regarding joint troop exercises, those continue to happen and we would strongly encourage that to increase. Last week we had 500 Indian troops train alongside our troops in Alaska, that's a tremendous thing. So despite this little bump we've had regarding tariffs, our relationship is much more robust, it's built on a lot more decades and I will do everything in my power should I be confirmed to build on that."
Gor, while answering a question on India's purchase of Russian oil, said, "President Trump has made it crystal clear that they (India) must stop buying Russian oil... The president has only imposed a 25 % tariff, and he's fully encouraging also European partners and others around the world to stop that. Our tariffs work if our partners around the world are on the same page. If we're unilaterally putting tariffs on someone, but they're able to the same oil and resell the same oil through China, through India, through Brazil, that's a problem. And so we fully intend on fixing that."
Emphasizing India's strategic position in checking China in the Indo-Pacific, Gor referred to India as a "vital counterweight" and stressed its role in BRICS, especially in de-dollarisation issues.
He said, "India is a vital counterweight to communist China in the Indo-Pacific. So our relationship is very important. I'm concerned that India is a member of the BRICS organisation alongside some of our biggest adversaries. So how are you going to deal with that? Senator, I share those concerns with you. um With that said, Indians have been on our side on various issues within BRICS, including several individuals in BRICS, Brazil, China, have pushed for years to move away from the US dollar, India has been the stopgap for that. India is much more willing and open to engage with us than with some of those other individuals that are in BRICS."
Gor also mentioned that the recent virtual BRICS summit, during which Brazil's President Lula emphasized talks on building a more "just, balanced, and inclusive international order, one better able to respond to the needs of the Global South," reaffirmed the member countries' commitment to promoting multilateralism and reorganizing international institutions.
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