Tulsi Gabbard vows to strengthen US-India ties
Tulsi Gabbard, the newly confirmed US Director of National Intelligence, has reaffirmed her commitment to strengthening US-India relations.
In a post on X, Gabbard expressed her enthusiasm for enhancing bilateral ties.
“It was an honor to welcome India’s Prime Minister @narendramodi back to the United States, and I look forward to continuing to strengthen the US-India friendship,” she wrote on Friday.
Her message came in response to Prime Minister Modi’s post about their meeting on Wednesday.
“Met USA’s Director of National Intelligence, @TulsiGabbard in Washington DC. Congratulated her on her confirmation. Discussed various aspects of the India-USA friendship, of which she’s always been a strong votary,” Modi posted.
Gabbard was the first high-profile official to meet Modi during his visit to the US. She called on him at Blair House, the official US government guesthouse, on Wednesday evening—just hours after taking the oath of office.
As the newly appointed top intelligence official in the US, Gabbard has long been an advocate for strong US-India ties. During her tenure in the US House of Representatives as a Democrat, she co-chaired the Congressional India Caucus and maintained close ties with Modi. In 2015, the Indian Prime Minister even sent gifts to her wedding in Hawaii through an emissary.
Gabbard is one of two former India Caucus co-chairs now serving in the Trump administration. The other is National Security Adviser Mike Waltz, a former Republican Congressman who previously co-chaired the caucus alongside Democrat Ro Khanna.
Waltz was the second senior US official to meet Modi on Thursday morning, followed by billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk, who visited with his family. The Prime Minister’s third high-profile visitor at Blair House was biotech entrepreneur and former presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy.
