PM Modi, Trump share similar views on illegal immigration: US Ambassador Gor

Washington: US Ambassador to India, Sergio Gor, has sought to reassure Indians over the Trump administration’s immigration measures, saying changes to the US visa system are “not targeted at India” while insisting that people-to-people ties, trade and defence cooperation between the two countries will continue to grow.

In an exclusive interview with IANS at the White House, Gor said the administration’s immigration reforms were part of a broader effort to overhaul the entire US immigration system rather than measures directed at any particular country.

“I don’t think the big item to remember on that is this is not targeted at India,” Gor said when asked about concerns surrounding H-1B visas and reports of increased immigration enforcement in the United States.

“The United States, we had to take stock of the whole immigration system, every kind of visa,” he said. “Unfortunately, under previous administrations, our borders were wide open. That’s something the President wanted to fix on day one.”

Gor said Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Donald Trump shared similar views on illegal immigration.

“It’s actually something the Prime Minister relates to,” he said. “When I listen to the Prime Minister speaking in India, he talks about no illegal migrants. We hundred per cent agree with that.”

The US Ambassador said India’s large population naturally meant more Indians were affected by changes in US immigration procedures, but stressed that the reforms should not be viewed as India-specific.

“Of course, India’s a massive population, so you’re impacted by it,” he said. “But things continue.”

Gor pointed to the scale of visa operations in India as evidence of the strength of bilateral exchanges.

“Our Embassy is one of the busiest embassies in the world as it relates to visas, as you know,” he said.

“So the people-to-people ties will continue, trade will continue, commerce will continue.”

He also highlighted the depth of the broader strategic partnership between the two countries.

“India exports more to the United States than anywhere else in the world,” Gor said. “India does more defence exercises with the United States than any other country in the world.”

“So we have incredible things happening. We’ll continue building on that.”

On energy cooperation, Gor said New Delhi had already increased purchases of US energy and argued that diversifying supplies would strengthen India’s energy security.

“I think we’ve already seen an incredible increase in energy coming from the United States,” he said. “For India, that’s a good thing. You want to be diversified. You should not have all your energy supplies coming from one place.”

Referring to the recent crisis involving Iran, Gor added: “Unfortunately, when Iran decided to shut down the Strait of Hormuz, which are international waterways, the whole world was impacted by it. So having different sources is a good thing for every country.”

India remains one of the largest sources of international students and skilled professionals entering the United States, while Indian companies continue to expand investments and operations across the American market. Mobility of students, professionals and business travellers has become an important pillar of the bilateral relationship.

The India-US partnership has expanded significantly over the past two decades, encompassing defence, technology, trade, clean energy and critical supply chains. Despite periodic policy differences on immigration and trade, both governments have consistently described the relationship as one of their most consequential strategic partnerships.

IANS