US ambassador Gor’s ‘expect’ remark stirs up political storm over Jaishankar-Rubio meeting
Rahul Gandhi accuses Modi govt of yielding to US pressure as Jaishankar prepares to meet Rubio in Mumbai amid tensions over Russian oil, tariffs, and the proposed India-US trade deal
US ambassador to India Sergio Gor has stirred up a political storm in the capital with his remarks about US Secretary of State Marco Rubio's upcoming visit to Mumbai, and Jamnagar, where Reliance Industries’ refinery is located.
“We expect Minister Dr Jaishankar to meet with us there, along with other officials,’’ Gor said, while speaking at an event in New Delhi on Thursday (October 15). His choice of the word “expect’’ was unfortunate. It gave the impression that the minister was being summoned.
Embarrassing for Modi govt
The timing of the remark has made it embarrassing for the Narendra Modi government, amid barbs from the Opposition that New Delhi is bowing to US pressure and is reluctant to stand up to Washington. The Trump administration is armed with Congressional approval for sanctions against countries buying Russian oil, even as Washington has come to an agreement to purchase diesel from Russia. The tariffs under the sanctions can reach 100 per cent.
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Questions have also been raised about Rubio’s visit to Mumbai and not to Delhi, which generally hosts foreign dignitaries.
Rahul’s jibe
The opposition naturally latched on to Gor’s words, and on Friday (October 16), Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi, put out a social media post on X saying, “Mr Rubio has summoned his employee to Mumbai. Modi ji, your officials in the External Affairs Ministry are confused about what's going on. You might want to explain. Unless, of course, you want me to.”
MEA statement
In its briefing on Friday, the MEA confirmed that External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar will meet with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio in Mumbai on October 20. A day earlier, he will host the Deputy Prime Minister of the UAE, Abdullah Bin Zayed, again in Mumbai.
MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said that in the last couple of years, India has often hosted foreign leaders outside the capital. He recalled Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s meeting with Chancellor Friedrich Merz in Ahmedabad earlier this year. Jaiswal also said Modi hosted Prime Minister of Mauritius Navinchandra Ramgoolam in Varanasi in 2025, and Spanish PM Pedro Sanchez in Baroda in 2024, when Modi and Sanchez jointly inaugurated an aircraft assembly plant in Gujarat.
Also Read: US Ambassador Sergio Gor calls Jammu and Kashmir 'important part of India’
The MEA spokesperson added that Jaishankar had also hosted the SCO foreign ministers' meet in Goa, the foreign minister of Botswana in Gujarat, and the Heart of Asia conference in Amritsar. This was to show that hosting visiting VIPs outside Delhi is not unusual.
Jaishankar and Rubio will review the entire range of bilateral issues, including energy, defence, and critical minerals, and will also discuss regional and international issues to energise shared priorities of the partnership, said Jaiswal. He refused to comment on the US decision to buy Russian diesel, saying India did not comment on commercial deals between other countries. Yet, on Thursday, Sergio Gor emphasised that the US expects its partners to gradually reduce energy purchases from Russia.
Outspoken, transactional
Sergio Gor is a brash and outspoken envoy, not given to maintaining diplomatic protocol. The 39-year-old Gor is said to be a close Trump loyalist and has the president’s ear. Like Pete Hegseth and the rest of the Trump brigade, he is impatient and transactional in his dealings, and is keen on promoting trading and commercial ties between India and the US.
President Trump too does not stand on diplomatic niceties. No one in India has forgotten how Donald Trump announced the India-Pakistan ceasefire following the Operation Sindoor, way before either New Delhi or Islamabad did so. Trump, as is his habit, was in a hurry to take the credit for another so-called peace deal. The Modi government was annoyed and pushed back against the claim without naming Trump or the US.
Also Read: Trump nominates close aide Sergio Gor as next US ambassador to India
In fact, this has been a pattern, India keeping mum about Trump’s claims and tirades, because the US is important for foreign direct investments, technology, and as a lucrative market for Indian exports. Relations between India and the US during Trump’s second term in office have been rocky, to put it mildly.
However, comments from Gor, Jaishankar, and Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal indicate that the two countries are close to finalising the much-anticipated bilateral trade deal.
