Dr. Bhashyam Kasturi
Trump’s Latest Envoy
US Ambassador Sergio Gor is a much sought after man in the capital. His residence is often buzzing with parties, filled with the high and mighty of New Delhi in attendance.
Since landing in the capital, Gor has met with the Prime Minister, EAM and NSA. He is said to have a direct line to US President Donald Trump, making him literally, an extension of the administration. However, apart from being the Ambassador to India, he is also the President’s Special Envoy to South and Central Asia. That makes his remit much larger than any other Ambassador in the past. A lot of what Sergio Gor brings to India has to do with the current state of play of US-India relations.
Currently, the bilateral relationship is at a low, as far as trade and commerce are concerned, with the US Senate being authorised to impose 100% tariffs on India, alongside three other countries. The pact on trade, which has been under negotiations for some time now, has become a casualty of US inability to fix its own laws and regulations to accommodate India.
India-US Ties
But under the surface, there are other aspects that make ties strained currently. There is the case of two Americans who have been arrested for what may have been activities that could be treated as inimical to India. The other issue is that the US is playing around in the neighbourhood, working to support, for example, the Arakan Army in Myanmar. As, this has led to US forces being stationed in Bangladesh. Pakistan is well known for playing the mediation card and obtaining deals in crypto and minerals with the US.
Politically, Gor has also played the role of a messenger for the government in the Justice Department case against Adani. On 10 August 2026, a US federal court officially dismissed the criminal bribery and fraud indictment against Gautam Adani, his nephew Sagar Adani, and executive Vineet Jain. The US District Judge Nicholas Garaufis granted the Department of Justice’s motion to dismiss the case with prejudice permanently ending the high-profile 2024 prosecution.
The Security Dynamic in India-US ties
Pertinently, Gor met with NSA, Ajit Doval, on 11 August 2026, a day after Vice President J.D. Vance spoke with Prime Minister Modi, to discuss the situation in West Asia. This was the latest in the series of meetings that Gor has had with NSA. But the fact that they met for two days, on 10th & 11th August 2026 continuously for back-to-back meetings, indicates that there is something more than meets the eye. Incidentally, he had met NSA twice earlier; first in October 2025, as Ambassador-designate and then as Ambassador on 19th March 2026.
While Gor stated on ‘X’ that discussions were on deepening India-US strategic cooperation, social media informs that Doval spoke of the need to handle Bangladesh. R&AW Chief Parag Jain first went to Beijing, ostensibly to invite Xi Jinping for the BRICS Summit and then on the return leg, dropped by in Dhaka. Maybe the R&AW chief was reciprocating the visit of the DGFI chief Major General Kaiser Rashid Chowdhury, to New Delhi in March this year. The Hindu reports that New Delhi is keen on a visit by Prime Minister Tariq Rehman by the end of August or early September to help reset ties.
US nationals in India
Sergio Gor is also quietly working on several US nationals in Indian custody, Matthew Aaron VanDyke and 6 Ukrainian nationals. The other is Jordan Brown, who was arrested by the SSB on the Indo-Nepal border without a passport. Brown claims that he is a former Special Forces officer.
In July 2026, there was another arrest along the Nepal border of a US citizen, Manveer Singh Dillon, along with Vikramjit Singh, a wanted member of the Khalistani group, Waris de Punjab. These names would have definitely figured in the discussions with NSA Doval. Knowing NSA, he would have rightly said that this was being investigated by the NIA. The questions to be really asked of the US is: what these people are doing here? Are they CIA operatives or perhaps former soldiers working for some private military contractor on a specific assignment? The US is fishing in troubled waters in South Asia and Indian intelligence agencies need to keep a close watch on any such activity.
US Ambassadors are plenipotentiaries at large
Traditionally, US Ambassadors to India have been treated like special envoys and the Embassy in New Delhi is a hallowed ground for many, both because visas get issued there and the Ambassador is throwing parties and discussions with prominent Indians.
The US is larger than life in India for several reasons, but one recent factor is Prime Minister Modi. Love or hate him, the US has never said ‘NO’ to doing business with him. However, with President Trump’s “America First” idea means that anything is fair, even at the cost of bilateral ties. It is this delicate task that Gor has to tackle without ruffling feathers on either side.
The presence of an Ambassador helps keep bilateral ties on an even keel. Recall that there was a gap from 2021 to 2023, when the US did not have a regular Ambassador in New Delhi. Of course, this was not because of a trough in ties, but because Eric Garcetti’s nomination did not immediately get Senate confirmation. Garcetti was Ambassador till January 2025 and the initial days of the Trump administration showed promise in bilateral ties. But ties took a nosedive when Trump decided to impose tariffs in April 2025. This was also when Trump hosted General Asim Munir at the White House as a sort of counterweight to India. The rough patch in ties continued till the end of 2025. Soon thereafter, Ambassador-designate Sergio Gor came to India to work out the Framework Agreement on Trade in February 2026. Gor did come to India earlier in October 2025 soon after his Senate confirmation, showing that he was keen to show off his skills to mend ties.
But Gor appears to be a different kettle of fish, with his reported direct access to Trump. Also, his skills as a persuasive diplomat appear to have been enhanced from the time he landed in Roosevelt House, hosting parties with some of the most senior members of the Indian Cabinet being present. The other challenge for Gor is to pursue the “cultivation” agenda, which is to make friends across India’s political landscape and pan-India. Thus, Gor met Karnataka Chief Minister, D.K. Shivakumar (7 August 2026), two days earlier, he had met the Telengana CM, Revanth Reddy. A day later he was in Kerala to meet the new CM V.D. Satheesan. It is this high-profile US campaigning across India, that has raised eyebrows in official circles, with some wondering if Gor is here to assess the future political direction of India. But then don’t all diplomatic officials do precisely that?
India’s perspective on Relations
India’s efforts have been pragmatic in terms of keeping bilateral ties alive in the most important sectors, including Defence and Intelligence cooperation. The US Ambassador Gor probably realises this point and has been working to mend ties to keep the institutional mechanisms going, despite Trump’s transactional attitude towards India. For an envoy who is Trump’s chosen man, his mission is multi-fold in India. He has to mend ties by cultivating all hues of Indians, especially the influential ones, like his predecessors had done, but he is doing it with much more gusto.
Sergio Gor also plays the role of a messenger, both ways. This is an unusual but useful channel for communication without the bureaucracy getting in the way. He also has a wider unstated remit, i.e., to gauge Indian public opinion on a range of issues, from governance to the current political mood. Therefore, it came as no surprise that the US Embassy issued a circular (17 July 2026) on the proposed rally and protest at Jantar Mantar three days before things actually got off to a start. This shows that their ground intelligence is pretty good or they got a tip off from their Indian sources. Note that Gor serves as Trump’s Special Envoy to South and Central Asia, that means 17 nations to keep an eye on. But from a narrow perspective, a Special Envoy is sent when a nation wants to broker peace between two warring neighbours, in this case, India and Pakistan. This is the flip side of Pakistan’s new found influence in Washington DC.
Way Ahead
The US-India relationship is today dependent on a number of things. Primary among these is Trump’s transactional view of India. Additionally, the US administration is too fixated on the Middle East right now. The latest US Senate bill that threatens 100% tariff on nations that buy Russian energy however, shows that the US is not about to let India continue its purchase of Russian oil. This may put a spanner in ties.
The overall view is that India-US ties with Gor as Ambassador will remain transactional, working in some areas while stalling in others. However, Gor’s objective is to increase US influence in India. The distance that he goes to achieve this goal will determine his own future in India.
