Senior Indian Diplomats Voice Concern Over Donald Trump Aide Sergio Gor's Appointment As US Ambassador And Special Envoy For South And Central Asia

New Delhi: Senior diplomats in New Delhi have reacted strongly to President Trump’s appointment of Sergio Gor as the next US ambassador to India. Apart from the lack of India expertise, senior diplomats voiced concerns over Gor’s dual role. Gor has been appointed not just the US Ambassador to India but also Special Envoy for South and Central Asian Affairs, a role given to a US envoy for the first time.

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Former foreign secretary and ambassador to the US, Nirupama Rao, believes that Gor’s appointment and his wider role would hurt rather than help India-US ties. “Gor is not a diplomat. He is a longtime Trump aide with no background in India or South Asia. His main qualification appears to be loyalty to Trump.”

Rao believed Gor’s appointment was to push Trump’s agenda rather than look to mend fences with India. “Trump has openly said Gor will push his agenda, not necessarily strengthen U.S. India ties.

On top of that, Gor is also nominated as special envoy for South and Central Asia, which risks re-linking India to U.S. policy on Pakistan and Afghanistan— something India has resisted for decades.” The former foreign secretary concluded that while there was still time to recalibrate, Gor’s agenda came at a bad time in India-US ties that were already struggling with Trump’s tariffs and stress over defence, technology, and the Quad. The relationship, she contended, was not likely to improve anytime soon.

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Appointment signals more transactional phase in ties

“Gor’s appointment signals an even more transactional phase in the relationship. Unless both governments take deliberate steps to stabilize ties, U.S.-India relations may look off course when global challenges make cooperation more important than ever. The stakes are huge, so maybe both sides will recalibrate. But trust has already been hurt. A quick recovery looks unlikely.”

Former foreign secretary Kanwal Sibal agreed with this assessment. Writing on X, Sibal voiced his concerns about Gor’s appointment, stating this “wider mandate” allowed him to not just manage India but India’s relationships within the region. And that, he believed, could lead to a “new form of hyphenation” between India and Pakistan.

It’s the first time that a US ambassador to India is also a Special Envoy for South and Central Asian affairs.

This means he will have a much wider mandate covering the jurisdiction of the Bureau of South and Central Asian Affairs in the State Dept.

Ipso facto he will be… https://t.co/LmjdG6XRzs

— Kanwal Sibal (@KanwalSibal) August 23, 2025

“This means he will have a much wider mandate covering the jurisdiction of the Bureau of South and Central Asian Affairs in the State Dept. Ipso facto, he will be supervising India’s relationship within this region. With Pakistan and our other neighbours.

This means he will be consulting and coordinating with other US ambassadors in the region to develop a more integrated approach. This is a new form of “hyphenating” India and Pakistan again, amongst other things.” “This Special Envoy mandate also blurs the focus on the Indo-Pacific dimension of US-India ties. The intention behind this double nomination is problematic.”

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Former Ambassador to the US Navtej Sarna agreed that this wider mandate role for Gor was unusual. “I don’t know which all countries will come under his remit, but it will certainly include Pakistan, Bangladesh, possibly Afghanistan, Sri Lanka. The others are okay, but I think I would be disturbed if he starts looking at a re-input for Pakistan. Yes. This is most unusual, and I think it would be a cause for concern.” Ambassador Sarna saw some positives in the fact that Gor had Trump’s support. “It is good to have an ambassador who has the ear right to the top. It also means that we won’t have a policy kind of filter that might have been able to balance what Trump wants with larger policy. So that will be a loss. But overall, we have to maximise it and make sure the ambassador's proximity to Trump is an advantage and not a disadvantage.” Ambassador Sarna also stated that one would have to wait and see before seeking to understand Gor’s intentions. “Ultimately, it is the purpose of every ambassador to make sure the relationship he or she is handling is a success. So we have to go on the presumption that he wants to improve the India-US relationship.”