PM Modi top leader who President Trump wants to meet, says US envoy Sergio Gor

US Ambassador to India Sergio Gor has said Prime Minister Narendra Modi would be at the top of President Donald Trump’s list of leaders to meet at the G20 Summit, pointing to the personal equation between the two leaders and the growing momentum in bilateral ties.The ambassador said he expected Modi’s visit to Florida for the G20 Summit in December to go beyond the multilateral gathering, although no bilateral meeting had yet been announced.“If you asked the President, ‘You have 35 people coming. Who do you want to see?’, the Prime Minister would be at the top of that list,” Gor said in an exclusive interview with India Today TV.“Because the President considers the Prime Minister a friend, I anticipate that there will be more to that visit than just a group meeting,” he added. Gor also signalled the possibility of Trump returning to India next year, saying the President continued to recall his 2020 visit fondly.“Every single time I speak to him, he remembers very fondly the incredible visit that he had here, the incredible people he met and, of course, his dear friend, the Prime Minister,” he said. “Stay tuned. That’s all I can say. Next year will be here before you know it.”INDIA-US TRADE DEAL ‘VERY CLOSE’On the proposed India-US trade agreement, Gor said negotiations were being reworked following a US Supreme Court ruling but indicated that the two sides remained close to reaching a deal.“The trade deal is being reworked after the Supreme Court’s unfortunate decision, but we are very close,” he said.Gor said he hoped the agreement would be finalised within the next few months and stressed that negotiations of such scale often took time.“People ask me, ‘It has been a year’, but the European Union has been negotiating for more than 20 years and it is still not done. We are way ahead of a lot of other partners,” he said.The ambassador described the proposed agreement as beneficial to both countries and said New Delhi and Washington recognised the economic opportunities it could create.India-US bilateral trade currently stands at around $240 billion. Modi and Trump have set a target of increasing it to $500 billion over the next few years.PM MODI BRINGS STABILITY TO INDIA: GORGor welcomed India’s economic growth and said the country’s stability made it an attractive partner for the United States.“India doing well is a great thing for us. We want a stable India. We want to work with a stable India,” he said.He credited Modi with providing that stability, calling it significant in a large and vibrant democracy.“Your Prime Minister brings incredible stability to India, and that is something the United States is very pleased with,” Gor said.He also pointed to investments flowing in both directions. Gor said the US Embassy in India had helped secure $24 billion in new investment into the United States, while American companies were expanding their operations in India.“Whether that is Microsoft or Google, data centres, AI centres or pharmaceutical companies, there is so much happening between our two countries,” he said.‘INDIA IS A TRUSTED DEFENCE PARTNER’Gor described India as a trusted defence partner, saying the relationship extended beyond the sale of military equipment.“Our defence relationship is not just about sales. It is also about trust. The United States does not sell military equipment around the world to everybody,” he said.“India is in a group of countries the United States trusts,” he added.The ambassador cited the Javelin missile project, Apache helicopter deliveries and ongoing discussions over other defence equipment as examples of expanding cooperation.He also pointed to joint military exercises, saying India conducts more such drills with the United States than with any other country.“We trust India. That is an area where we will continue to grow and engage,” he said.MORE HIGH-LEVEL VISITS PLANNEDGor said India should “get used to” more frequent visits by senior US officials as Washington seeks a closer relationship with New Delhi.He confirmed that Secretary of State Marco Rubio would return to India in October, months after his previous four-day visit.“This is very rare, that the Secretary of State would come twice in such a short time. My message was very clear: get used to it,” Gor said.“We want to have a closer relationship, and that means we have to show up, and vice versa,” he added.Gor said visits by several other US Cabinet officials were being planned but had not yet been announced. Three governors from large US states were also expected to visit India before the end of the year.He said External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar could travel to the United States three times over the next four months, including for the United Nations and the G20.US KEEN ON QUAD LEADERS’ SUMMITGor said the Quad remained central to cooperation among India, the US, Japan and Australia.“The Quad represents a group of partners that trust each other,” he said.The ambassador said the four countries were working together on humanitarian assistance, disaster relief, military interoperability, artificial intelligence, data centres and critical minerals.The next Quad ministerial meeting will be held in Sydney, with Rubio expected to attend. Gor said the four countries were also working towards a leaders’ summit, possibly later this year, although the meeting had not been finalised.“The United States is incredibly interested in a leaders’ summit,” he said.“The four leaders speak with each other regularly. The next natural step is for all of them to be together around one table.”‘NUMBERS DON’T LIE’Gor said rising trade and defence engagement gave him confidence about the direction of the partnership.“There is opinion on television every single day. There is opinion in the United States and there is opinion in India. But the numbers don’t lie,” he said.“Year after year, our bilateral trade increases. Year after year, military exercises increase. The relationship is on a constant rise.”Gor said the pace of the partnership had become “an envy for other countries”, attributing it to the results-oriented approach of Modi and Trump.“There is a reason we are having so much engagement. Virtually every week, you have somebody coming here or somebody going to the United States,” he said.- EndsPublished On: Sep 4, 2026 16:24 IST