Top priority to pull India in our direction: US envoy on India-Beijing ties - video Dailymotion

India Today

Donald Trump’s nominee for envoy to India, Sergio Gor, said the US administration would prioritise drawing India closer to its side. The remark came in response to a question during a Senate hearing on India’s growing proximity to China.    "They have consistently reached out to us. And as I mentioned earlier, there are actions. There are active negotiations to resolve these trade imbalances, so we look out for our interests from the United States. And should I be confirmed, I will make it a top priority to ensure that they're pulled in our direction, not away from us," he said.

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00:00India, as you know, is quite literally on the front line against Chinese expansion.

00:04The U.S. and India are both acutely threatened by Chinese expansionism.

00:10President Trump and Modi undeniably respect each other

00:14and have signaled again and again that the United States and India are natural allies.

00:20Nevertheless, our relationship with India is far from perfect.

00:24You've talked about that in several different ways today in your testimony in response to questions.

00:28I'd like to ask you to talk a little more specifically about how India views Chinese expansionism and aggression

00:36and what that means for U.S.-Indian relations.

00:40Senator, thank you for the question.

00:42Look, India is very concerned.

00:43I mean, they've openly spoken about this.

00:45As I think it was Senator Hagerty who pointed out just five years ago, there were an open conflict.

00:50And so while we might have our moment of hiccups right now, we are on the track of resolving that.

00:56And our relationship with the Indian government, with the people of India, extends many more decades.

01:03And it's a much warmer relationship than they have with the Chinese.

01:06Frankly, they are concerned by Chinese expansionism.

01:09And Chinese expansionism is not just on the border of India.

01:12It's all over the area.

01:13And so we share a lot in common and we share a lot of the same concerns that other nations in the region do.

01:21So should I be confirmed, we will make that a top priority that India is pulled into our side and away from them.

01:28I fully agree.

01:31Another area that remains under-discussed is cooperation with India, specifically on energy.

01:36India has the world's largest population, a booming economy, and it's on track to become the world's largest economy in future years.

01:45President Trump is committed to American energy dominance.

01:48And obviously my home state of Texas is a powerhouse when it comes to energy.

01:53Talk a little bit about the possibilities for U.S.-India energy cooperation.

01:58Look, possibilities are endless, Senator, as you pointed out.

02:01We fully intend in these trade talks that are ongoing right now to open the markets to crude oil, petroleum products, liquefied natural gas.

02:09You're talking about a population of 1.4 billion individuals there.

02:13Their middle class, by our definition, is larger than the entire United States of America.

02:18And so we have countless possibilities to expand into those markets, and we fully intend to do that.

02:23Excellent.

Top priority to pull India in our direction: US envoy on India-Beijing ties

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