The fact that Sergio Gor has President Trump's ear makes him an extremely valuable commodity for India -- he represents both a challenge and an opportunity, points out Aditi Phadnis.
He has no experience of trade or economic management. His publishing business was aimed at a largely captive audience.
He has no particular interest in geopolitics, no specialised understanding of South Asia or India.
What Sergey Gorokhovsky, or Sergio Gor, the new US ambassador to India, has going for him is this: He has President Donald Trump's ear.
This makes him an extremely valuable commodity for New Delhi. Gor represents a challenge -- and an opportunity.
Every political appointee in the US -- from Vice President J D Vance to Secretary of State Marco Rubio to Federal Bureau of Investigation Director Kash Patel to Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent -- rushed to publicly congratulate Gor on his new assignment.
The reason: Gor was the one to sign off on their antecedents when they were being considered for their jobs.
As the director of the White House Presidential Personnel Office, he was responsible for research, background checks, security clearances, and recommendations on putative federal appointees and whether or not they should be hired.
Trump's first term was notable for the rapid turnover of officials.
'If there was one criticism that I would level against the President, it is he didn't hire very well... He did not have experience at running government and didn't know how to put together a team that could work well with him,' Trump's former acting chief of staff Mick Mulvaney told CNN in 2020, in what is considered an understatement.
This time, Trump was clear he did not want to make the same staffing mistakes. Gor's intensive background checks made him a person to be both respected and feared in the new administration.
At least 4,000 people he was responsible for hiring for federal jobs owe their loyalty to the 'Make America Great Again' (Maga) faction of the Republican party, as opposed to the traditional Republicans -- and to him personally.
A source said he was 'ruthlessly efficient' and The Washington Post newspaper reported that his beagle was called Machiavelli.
When Elon Musk referred to him as a 'snake', it was because Gor's advice to Trump prevailed over Musk's.
In some ways, it drove the stake in the Trump-Musk relationship.
The issue was entrepreneur Jared Isaacman's appointment as the administrator of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (Nasa).
'After a thorough review of prior associations, I am hereby withdrawing the nomination of Jared Isaacman to head Nasa,' Trump announced weeks after the confirmation, the penultimate stage in his appointment.
'Prior associations'? Gor found out Isaacman had made political contributions to the Democrats and reported this to the president.
Of course, his proximity to Musk -- and possible future conflicts of interests -- was an additional consideration.
How did Gor come to occupy such a central position in the power matrix? He has risen from the ranks.
In 2008, in his early 20s, Gor became an active supporter of Senator John McCain's presidential campaign.
He then became a spokesman for Republicans like Steve King, who was one of Trump's earliest backers and held strong views on immigration and national security; and Michele Bachmann, who many believe was actually a fount and a precursor of Trump's Maga politics.
Gor later joined Rand Paul, a senator from Kentucky and one of Trump's supporters-turned-critics, as his communications director.
He ran RandPAC, a fundraising campaign mounted by Paul, and eventually became a board member of Right for America, which raised upwards of $70 million for the Trump campaign.
In 2020, Gor became chief of staff for the Trump Victory Finance Committee, leveraging his understanding of how to raise money for political campaigns.
Around the same time, he turned publisher, primarily of Trump's books like The Art of The Deal, which gives extensive insights into the president's thinking.
Most Indians in the US who are watching India-US ties closely feel that Gor's appointment means a renewed focus on visa immigration and US national security issues.
They also believe that trade, currently the thorniest issue in bilateral relations, will have to be viewed through a different lens.
Gor will have to be convinced why the GMO issue is so sensitive for India.
New Delhi might have to ask itself if subsidy and protection to wealthy milk cooperatives is worth putting India-US trade at stake.
The bottom line is: India will have to deal with Gor differently as compared to previous US ambassadors -- not just because he is also the first special envoy for the South Asia bureau who is also the ambassador to India.
He will view the region with new eyes, resulting in possible re-hyphenation.
Former foreign secretary Kanwal Sibal said as much on social media platform X when he observed: 'Ipso facto he (Gor) will be supervising India's relationship within this region to develop a more integrated approach. This is a new form of 'hyphenating' India and Pakistan again, amongst other things'.
This is the challenge. The opportunity is having access to President Trump through one of his most trusted aides.
Photographs curated by Anant Salvi/Rediff
Feature Presentation: Aslam Hunani/Rediff
