Tulsi gabbard lands in India for high-stakes talks
US intelligence chief Tulsi Gabbard touched down in Delhi early on 16 March 2025, kicking off a two-and-a-half-day whirlwind as the first big Trump administration figure to hit India. By Monday afternoon, she was deep in talks—think counterterrorism, cybersecurity, defense ties—rubbing shoulders with India’s top brass ahead of her Raisina Dialogue speech tomorrow. “Trump’s focused on peace,” she told NDTV, doubling down on his push to end the Russia-Ukraine war, a line that syncs with Modi’s own “not the time for war” riff from days ago.
Picture her jet-lagged but steady, sipping chai between meets with national security advisor Ajit Doval and intel chiefs from 20-odd nations—Australia, Japan, Germany in the mix. “He’s got the best negotiators lined up,” she said of Trump, framing his 30-day ceasefire nudge as a lifeline for Ukraine’s battered streets. Posts on X buzzed—some saw her Bhagavad Gita nod to ANI as a personal anchor: “Krishna’s teachings guide me in war zones and now.” Others flagged her sidestepping India’s push on China or Khalistan, sticking to terrorism and freedom.
Her day’s packed—security huddles, a tariff chat with ANI’s Smita Prakash where she touted “direct dialogue” between Modi and Trump. “Two leaders with common sense,” she called them, hinting at economic wins over trade spats. A Delhi rickshaw driver might’ve caught her convoy zipping past, wheels still spinning from Japan and Thailand stops. This Indo-Pacific leg, her second big trip after Munich, ties Trump’s peace flex to India’s rising clout—Gabbard’s here to cement that bond, one handshake at a time.
