The Trump administration’s belated nomination of Sergio Gor as the next US ambassador to India appears less a gesture of goodwill than a cautious attempt at course correction. It ends a prolonged diplomatic vacuum during which US-India ties eroded, strained by tariff hikes, pressure over Russian oil imports, and a growing frustration in New Delhi over Washington’s transactional approach. What is evident, however, is that Washington has shed its earlier ambiguity. By nominating Gor, a trusted Trump insider with little foreign policy experience, as both ambassador and special envoy for South and Central Asia, the US is centralising its regional diplomacy under someone expected to deliver the administration’s agenda with loyalty, not latitude. Whether that agenda leaves room for India’s core interests is far from guaranteed.
Meanwhile, New Delhi has not waited for clarity from Washington. Faced with tariff threats and energy ultimatums, India has turned decisively toward its Asian partners. The recent Moscow meetings—where National Security Advisor Ajit Doval and External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar met with President Vladimir Putin—were more than symbolic. Jaishankar’s public challenge to the US sanctions was a clear assertion of strategic autonomy. India’s ties with Russia remain durable, and New Delhi has shown it will not be pressured into alignment by punitive measures. The West’s double standards on Russian energy—criticising India while continuing their own imports—have not gone unnoticed.
This reorientation adds weight to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s upcoming visits to Japan and China. In Tokyo, the focus will likely be on reaffirming the ‘Special Strategic and Global Partnership’ and deepening economic and technological cooperation. But it is the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation summit in Tianjin that could carry more significant geopolitical undertones. With Beijing openly criticising US tariffs on India and advocating for a reset in ties, a thaw with China could emerge from pragmatic convergence.
Gor’s nomination only reinforces a broader reality: the US-India relationship, once hailed as a natural alliance, is increasingly defined by friction and short-term calculus. The promise of strategic convergence is being tested by tariff threats and diplomatic silences. As the US reasserts its influence through trusted political appointees to oversee the region, India is left to recalibrate, weighing in its national interests. A diplomatic reset may well be underway. But this time, it’s unlikely to be scripted in Washington.