India is one of the top relationships US has in world today: Secretary of State Marco Rubio

New York: India is one of the top relationships the US has in the world today, and Washington is in a period of “extraordinary transition” in that relationship with Delhi, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Thursday.

Introducing US ambassador-designate to India Sergio Gor at his confirmation hearing in the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Rubio said he has known Gor for a very long time and "who is the nominee to India, which is, I would say, one of the top relationships the US has in the world today, in terms of the future, what the world is going to look like." Last month, President Donald Trump said that he is promoting Gor, Director of Presidential Personnel, to be the next US Ambassador to India and Special Envoy for South and Central Asian Affairs.

When confirmed, 38-year-old Gor will be the youngest American ambassador to India.

Rubio said that in the 21st Century, the “story is going to be written in the Indo-Pacific. In fact, it's so important that we've actually changed the name of the combatant command of the Indo-Pacific. India is at the core of that.

“And we are in a period of extraordinary transition in that relationship with India. We've got some really important issues coming up that we need to work with them on and work through on that implicate what's happening from Ukraine, but also implicate what's happening in the region.

“It is important that the United States be represented at that post with someone who has the direct ear and confidence of the President of the United States,” Rubio said, adding that he knows of no one “who has had a better or closer working relationship” than Gor.

Rubio said Gor is "very, very close to the President, has the President's confidence, and I can tell you that when you interact with these countries, in fact, I've already seen it when you interact with these countries, having a representative in a place like India that has direct access to the Oval Office, to the President and who they know can get things done both in the administration, and through the Oval Office, is critically important.” “I don't know of anyone out there that's better positioned” to do that than Gor, Rubio added.