Tulsi Gabbard, the United States Director of National Intelligence, said that Islamist terrorism has been a significant threat to both America and India, and emphasised that Prime Minister Narendra Modi and US President Donald Trump are working together to combat it.
Gabbard, who met with India's External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar earlier today, highlighted how Islamist terrorism has affected not only the United States and India but also many countries in the Middle East.
When asked about the repeated terrorist attacks on India from Pakistan, Gabbard responded by addressing the broader issue of Islamist terrorism.
"President Trump, during his first administration and continuing now, has been very clear about his commitment to defeating the threat of Islamist terrorism, which has tragically impacted us and continues to pose a direct threat to the American people," Gabbard said.
"We see how it has affected people here in India, in Bangladesh, and currently ongoing in Syria, Israel, and various countries in the Middle East. This is a threat that I know Prime Minister Modi also takes seriously, and one where our leaders are committed to working together to identify and defeat it."
According to news agency ANI, India also raised concerns regarding anti-India activities carried out by the Khalistani organization SFJ (Sikh For Justice) in the United States during Gabbard’s meeting with India’s Defence Minister Rajnath Singh.
India urged the US administration to take strong action against the unlawful organization.
Gabbard arrived in India on Sunday on a two-and-a-half-day trip in the first high-level visit to India by a top official of the Donald Trump administration.
She met Rajnath Singh on Monday and held wide-ranging talks focusing on enhancing the overall India-US strategic ties, especially in areas of defence and information sharing.
In a post on X, Rajnath Singh said he was "happy" to meet Gabbard and that they discussed ways to further deepen the India-US partnership.
"Happy to have met the US Director of National Intelligence Ms @TulsiGabbard in New Delhi. We discussed a wide range of issues which include defence and information sharing, aiming to further deepen the India-US partnership," he said.