Within days of the United States threatening to impose 500 per cent tariffs on India for purchasing Russian crude, Washington’s newly appointed Ambassador to India Sergio Gor took charge of office on Monday and said President Donald Trump’s “friendship with Prime Minister Modi is real.” Gor is yet to present his credentials to President Droupadi Murmu.
Gor, 39, is going to be one of the first Ambassadors of the United States to New Delhi in recent history who has also been appointed as President Trump’s Special Envoy to South and Central Asia.
“We are raising the standard for diplomacy itself. That means fair trade, mutual respect, and shared security. Many of you have asked me for an update on the ongoing trade deal negotiations. Both sides continue to actively engage. In fact, the next call on trade will occur tomorrow,” Gor said in his first public speech at the US Embassy in New Delhi.
The US and India have been aggressively negotiating a Bilateral Trade Agreement (BTA) since Trump came back to the White House last January. In February 2025, when Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited the U.S., both sides set a deadline of December 2025 to conclude the talks for having the BTA, which aims to achieve a bilateral trade target worth $500 billion by 2030 from the current $132.2 billion in FY25.
“Remember, India is the world’s largest nation, so it’s not an easy task to get this across the finish line, but we are determined to get there. And while trade is very important for our relationship, we will continue to work closely together on other very important areas, such as security, counterterrorism, energy, technology, education, and health,” said Gor, who was Director of the Office of Presidential Personnel, before being named US’ envoy to India.
Gor also added that the Trump administration has decided to invite India to become a full member of the US-led grouping Pax Silica by February. The Pax Silica was launched at a summit in Washington on 12 December, 2025.
“I also want to share with you today a new initiative that the United States launched just last month, called Pax Silica. Pax Silica is a U.S.-led strategic initiative to build a secure, prosperous, and innovation-driven silicon supply chain from critical minerals and energy inputs to advanced manufacturing, semiconductors, AI development, and logistics,” said Gor.
“Nations that joined last month include Japan, South Korea, the United Kingdom, and Israel. Today, I’m pleased to announce that India will be invited to join this group of nations as a full member next month. As the world adopts new technology, it is essential that India and the United States work hand-in-hand from the very start of this initiative,” Gor averred.
In December 2025, India was left out of the inaugural summit, which included Japan, South Korea, Singapore, the Netherlands, the UK, Israel, the UAE, and Australia. One of the main reasons why India was kept out of this newly launched initiative was due to lack of prowess in advanced manufacturing, according to the US.
Gor called India as an “essential partner” of the United States. “In the months and years ahead, it is my goal as Ambassador to pursue a very ambitious agenda. We will do this as true strategic partners, each bringing strength, respect, and leadership to the table.”
While both India and the United States started on a positive note following Modi’s visit there in February 2025, ties began to nosedive over the BTA, which even jeopardised the Quad Summit that India was expected to host. Leaders of the Quad member countries – US, Japan and Australia – were likely to visit India for the summit.
According to Gor, Trump is likely to visit India in the “next year or two” hinting at the fact that there was no immediate plan for the US President to visit India.
In January 2026, trade tensions between the United States and India escalated following reports that U.S. President Donald Trump "greenlit" a bipartisan bill – Sanctions Russia Act of 2025 – proposing tariffs of up to 500 percent on countries that continue to import Russian oil, natural gas, or uranium.
This proposed bipartisan legislation, which might be up for voting by the US Senate later this month, aims to pressure major energy buyers like India, China, and Brazil to stop purchasing discounted Russian energy.
India has described the proposed measures as "unfair, unjustified and unreasonable," stating that its energy purchases prioritize energy security and are based on global market dynamics.
Earlier this month, in an interview to the US media, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said that the US-India BTA could not be concluded as Prime Minister Modi did not call President Trump to “close” it. He stated that while India was "uncomfortable" making the call, the U.S. moved ahead and signed trade deals with Indonesia, the Philippines, and Vietnam. He used the metaphor that India was on the "wrong side of the seesaw" and had missed a window of opportunity.
Lutnick has also remarked that the U.S. is planning to “fix a bunch of countries” which includes India.
“India, these are countries that need to really react correctly to America. Open their markets, stop taking actions that harm America, and that's why we're off sides with them,” Lutnick has said.
Meanwhile, rejecting Lutnick’s comments on Modi not calling Trump, Randhir Jaiswal, spokesperson, Ministry of External Affairs, said, India’s sourcing of energy is “guided by the evolving dynamics in the global market” and that Modi and Trump spoke over the phone for as many as eight times in 2025.