‘Sergio Gor not qualified’: Trump’s ex-aide John Bolton on US ambassador pick for India

JOhn Bolton, a former US subject certificate Advisor, has questioned chair Donald ruff’s selection of Sergio Gor as the next ambassador to India, saying he does not consider him “qualified” for the role."I don't think he's qualified to be US ambassador to India," news agency ANI quoted John Bolton as saying.Donald Trump announced Sergio Gor as the next US ambassador to India and Special Envoy for South and Central Asian Affairs.Announcing on Truth Social, Donald Trump said, "I am pleased to announce that I am promoting Sergio Gor to be our next United States Ambassador to the Republic of India, and Special Envoy for South and Central Asian Affairs. As Director of Presidential Personnel, Sergio and his team have hired nearly 4,000 America First Patriots across every Department of our Federal Government in RECORD time -- Our Departments and Agencies are over 95% filled! Sergio will remain in his current role at the White House until his confirmation."Addressing Gor as a "great friend," Trump expressed his complete trust in him while noting his contributions to the White House Office of Presidential Personnel.John Bolton Trump tariffsSpeaking on India's purchase of Russian oil despite sanctions, Bolton told the news agency that many countries took advantage of a gap in the sanctions framework.He said the sanctions aimed to reduce Russia's revenue that could be used to fund the war in Ukraine, without cutting Russian oil sales in a way that would drive up prices in Europe and the US."The objective was to reduce Russian revenues that could fund the war in Ukraine, but not reduce the Russian sale of oil on global markets in a way that would increase prices to consumers in Europe and the United States and that obviously creates with a price cap, that obviously creates the possibility of arbitrage to buy from the Russians at the below the cap price and then sell it internationally at market prices. So I think many would argue that there was not even a technical violation of the sanctions," Bolton said.He stressed that the main focus should be to stop funding Russia's war effort. "The fundamental objective should be that we don't want to fuel the Russian war machine," he added.Earlier, the ex-NSA said India should treat Trump as a “one-time proposition” and pursue its national interests without assuming his policies reflect the “larger American view”.Speaking on India-US ties, Bolton saod, "I would say the relationship's still the same... The government of India should look at Trump as a one-time proposition and deal with it and take whatever steps they believe are in Indian's national interest, but to understand it as peculiar to Trump and not reflecting some larger American view..."Bolton criticised Trump's foreign policy style, saying, "Trump doesn't have an overall national security strategy. He's very transactional. I think much of the tension between India and the US has been because of Trump's very erratic style."Trump has imposed an extra 25 per cent tariff on imports from India to pressure New Delhi to halt its purchases of discounted Russian crude oil, bringing total punitive duties on Indian goods to 50 per cent and souring trade negotiations between the two democracies.But Trump has refrained from imposing additional tariffs on Chinese imports over China's purchases of Russian oil, as his administration navigates a delicate trade truce with Beijing.