Washington:

In the most significant appointment yet for India from the incoming administration of President-elect Donald Trump on Monday announced Mike Waltz, a Congressman from Florida who is the co-chair of the India Caucus, as his new National Security Adviser.

Waltz, 50, is a retired Army colonel who served as a Green Beret, an elite special forces unit of the US Army.

He has been a member of the US House of Representatives since 2019. He has been a forceful critic of President Joe Biden’s foreign policy and serves on the House Armed Services Committee, House Foreign Affairs Committee, and the House Intelligence Committee this term.

He has called for Europe to do more to support Ukraine and for the US to be more stringent with its support, aligning with a key foreign policy goal of the President-elect. He has also been a staunch critic of the Biden administration’s 2021 withdrawal from Afghanistan.

Waltz has praised Trump for pushing Nato allies to spend more on defence, but unlike the President-elect has not suggested the US pull out of the alliance.

“Look we can be allies and friends and have tough conversations,” Waltz said last month

Waltz is also on the Republican’s China taskforce and has argued the US military is not as prepared as it needs to be if there is conflict in the Indo-Pacific region.

Waltz had been open about his willingness to serve in the administration and was considered a candidate to lead the Pentagon. The role of National Security Adviser does not require Senate confirmation.

Waltz is also a co-chair of the India Caucus in the House, which is the largest country-specific group in the US Congress.

Trump has been moving swiftly to announce key personnel of his incoming administration, including Susan Wiles, his White House Chief of Staff who will be the first woman to hold the position.

Trump’s other appointments include Stephen Miller, as a senior adviser, who is a known critic of the H-1b visa programme which he tried to kill in Trump’s first administration.

The President-elect has been quickly assembling a roster of senior staff since winning last week’s election. He has already announced Tom Homan as his “border czar,” Elise Stefanik as US ambassador to the United Nations, and Lee Zeldin as administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency.

–IANS

yrj/khz

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U.S. White House National Security Communications Advisor John Kirby speaks during a press briefing at the White House in Washington, U.S., June 17, 2024.
| Photo Credit: Reuters

As the world’s two oldest and largest democracies, the United States and India share a unique bond of friendship and National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan’s visit will further deepen the partnership to create a safer and more prosperous Indo-Pacific, the White House has said.

Mr. Sullivan is visiting New Delhi from June 17 to 18, in the first trip to India by a senior Biden administration official after the Modi government came to power for the third term.

Mr. Sullivan met Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Indian counterpart Ajit Doval on Monday.

“As the world’s two oldest and largest democracies, the United States and India share a unique bond of friendship, and Mr. Sullivan’s trip will further deepen the already strong U.S.-India partnership to create a safer and more prosperous Indo-Pacific,” John Kirby, White House National Security Communications Advisor told reporters at his daily news conference on Monday.

In New Delhi, Mr. Kirby said, Mr. Sullivan will co-chair the US-India Initiative on Critical and Emerging Technology, also known as iCET, a landmark partnership to expand strategic cooperation across key technology sectors including space, semiconductors, advanced telecommunications, artificial intelligence, quantum technology, biotechnology and clean energy.

Mr. Kirby did not respond to questions on Indian national Nikhil Gupta who has been accused of being involved in a murder-for-hire plot against Khalistani separatist Gurpatwant Singh Pannun on American soil and has been extradited to the U.S. from the Czech Republic.

“I don’t have more to add on the conversations that Jake’s having. He’s still over there having these conversations. But the main focus of his visit, as I said, was to look for ways to deepen the U.S.-India bilateral relationship, particularly when it comes to emerging technology,” he said.

Nikhil Gupta was produced before a federal court in New York on Monday, where he pleaded not guilty.

India has publicly said a high-level inquiry is looking into the evidence shared by the U.S. in the alleged plot to kill Mr. Pannun.