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5 days ago
- Politics
DNI Tulsi Gabbard leading US delegation to major security summit in Singapore
Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard is leading a U.S. delegation to Singapore this week to attend the Shangri-La Dialogue, Asia's premier security summit, another signal of the Trump administration's intensified focus on the Indo-Pacific region. The summit will convene more than 550 delegates from 40 nations, including military, intelligence, business and security leaders, from across the Asia-Pacific, Europe and North America, a source familiar with plans told ABC News. Gabbard will be joined by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth at the 22nd annual summit, hosted by the International Institute for Strategic Studies, which runs from May 30 to June 2 in Singapore. Gabbard is expected to "discuss major security challenges" with leaders, a source familiar with Gabbard's plans told ABC News. This year's U.S. delegation includes higher-level representation than in previous years, the source added. The Shangri-La Dialogue is considered Asia's top defense summit, comparable to the Raisina Dialogue and the Munich Security Conference, both of which Gabbard attended earlier this year. This trip marks Gabbard's second trip to Asia in recent weeks, seemingly reinforcing the Trump administration's renewed focus on the region. Shortly after her confirmation, Gabbard traveled to India and met with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi ahead of President Donald Trump's bilateral meeting with Modi in February. Her relationship with Modi spans more than a decade, dating back to 2013 when she became the first Hindu member of Congress. They met again during her 2014 visit to India at Modi's invitation. Earlier this year, Gabbard accepted an invitation from Modi to speak at the Raisina Dialogue in New Delhi, a multilateral conference on geopolitics and geoeconomics, but, before returning to Washington, D.C., Gabbard made stops in Japan, Thailand and France. Her diplomatic tour began in Honolulu, Hawaii -- her hometown -- where she represented the state in Congress for eight years. While in Hawaii, Gabbard met with intelligence community partners and visited United States Indo-Pacific Command (INDOPACOM) headquarters in Honolulu. In Singapore this week, she will hold bilateral meetings with regional leaders to "explore opportunities to chart a path that advances mutual interests of security, peace, and prosperity in the region," according to a source familiar with the agenda. Long before taking the helm of the intelligence community, Gabbard was already on the ground in Southeast Asia and, in 2019 while she was running for president, she paused her campaign for two weeks to serve on active duty with the U.S. Army National Guard in Jakarta, Indonesia, becoming the first candidate in modern history to do so. Now, as director of national intelligence, her return to the region marks a shift from military service to high-stakes diplomacy, an evolution that underscores not only her long-standing personal and strategic ties to the Indo-Pacific, but also hints the administration's broader efforts to elevate U.S. engagement in the region.
Yahoo
5 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
DNI Tulsi Gabbard leading US delegation to major security summit in Singapore
Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard is leading a U.S. delegation to Singapore this week to attend the Shangri-La Dialogue, Asia's premier security summit, another signal of the Trump administration's intensified focus on the Indo-Pacific region. The summit will convene more than 550 delegates from 40 nations, including military, intelligence, business and security leaders, from across the Asia-Pacific, Europe and North America, a source familiar with plans told ABC News. Gabbard will be joined by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth at the 22nd annual summit, hosted by the International Institute for Strategic Studies, which runs from May 30 to June 2 in Singapore. Gabbard is expected to "discuss major security challenges" with leaders, a source familiar with Gabbard's plans told ABC News. This year's U.S. delegation includes higher-level representation than in previous years, the source added. The Shangri-La Dialogue is considered Asia's top defense summit, comparable to the Raisina Dialogue and the Munich Security Conference, both of which Gabbard attended earlier this year. This trip marks Gabbard's second trip to Asia in recent weeks, seemingly reinforcing the Trump administration's renewed focus on the region. Shortly after her confirmation, Gabbard traveled to India and met with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi ahead of President Donald Trump's bilateral meeting with Modi in February. Her relationship with Modi spans more than a decade, dating back to 2013 when she became the first Hindu member of Congress. They met again during her 2014 visit to India at Modi's invitation. MORE: Senate confirms Gabbard as director of national intelligence Earlier this year, Gabbard accepted an invitation from Modi to speak at the Raisina Dialogue in New Delhi, a multilateral conference on geopolitics and geoeconomics, but, before returning to Washington, D.C., Gabbard made stops in Japan, Thailand and France. Her diplomatic tour began in Honolulu, Hawaii -- her hometown -- where she represented the state in Congress for eight years. While in Hawaii, Gabbard met with intelligence community partners and visited United States Indo-Pacific Command (INDOPACOM) headquarters in Honolulu. MORE:Exclusive: Gabbard to meet with US allies in Munich on first trip as DNI In Singapore this week, she will hold bilateral meetings with regional leaders to "explore opportunities to chart a path that advances mutual interests of security, peace, and prosperity in the region," according to a source familiar with the agenda. Long before taking the helm of the intelligence community, Gabbard was already on the ground in Southeast Asia and, in 2019 while she was running for president, she paused her campaign for two weeks to serve on active duty with the U.S. Army National Guard in Jakarta, Indonesia, becoming the first candidate in modern history to do so. Now, as director of national intelligence, her return to the region marks a shift from military service to high-stakes diplomacy, an evolution that underscores not only her long-standing personal and strategic ties to the Indo-Pacific, but also hints the administration's broader efforts to elevate U.S. engagement in the region. DNI Tulsi Gabbard leading US delegation to major security summit in Singapore originally appeared on
India Gazette
23-05-2025
- Politics
- India Gazette
Helped us convey message that our unity, strength and determination will go to any extent in destroying terror infra: Indian envoy on MPs Japan visit
Tokyo [Japan], May 23 (ANI): India's Ambassador to Japan, Sibi George, said that the members of parliament from different political parties affirmed their stance of 'zero tolerance to terrorism' in one voice, and the message was conveyed loud and clear from the Indian side to the Japanese. He said the all-party parliamentary delegation's visit, led by JDU MP Sanjay Jha, helped India convey the message that its unity, strength, and determination will 'go to any extent in destroying the infrastructure of terrorism.' In an interview with ANI, George said that the visiting MPs met with Japanese Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya, former Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga and members of Parliament and called it 'amazing' that the whole nation has come together in its fight against terrorism. He also mentioned that Japan was one of the first nations to condemn the recent terrorist attack in Jammu and Kashmir's Pahalgam and recalled the conversations between Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba and Prime Minister Narendra Modi. On the importance of all-party delegation's visit to India, George said, 'India is the most peaceful country in the world, and India's connected with Japan. If you travel, you will find that they look at India as the land of Buddha. Lord Buddha, Lord Buddha is nonviolence, and again, Mahatma Gandhi, we have last year during the visit of the honourable Prime Minister in the Hiroshima National Peace Park, we have installed the statue of Mahatma Gandhi. Why? Because he is the icon of peace. So, India is the land of peace and in Jammu and Kashmir, peace had returned, stability was there, democratic government was there, and life was normal. Schools were open, universities were open, tourism was flourishing. Business wise life was going very normal, that was the time the enemy hit.' 'Enemy hit and purpose was very clear, destroy the progress in Jammu and Kashmir, destroy the harmony, religious harmony, communal harmony in India, that was the purpose. There is no way we are going to let that happen. The whole country has to come together. Members of parliament from different political parties came together with one voice, zero tolerance to terrorism and the message was loud and clear from the Indian side to the our Japanese friends, to the diplomatic community, to the media. They went everywhere with one voice. This is a great achievement. I see it and you were seeing the interaction today and yesterday at every level. So, I think it was a good visit and it helped us convey our message loud and clear, our unity, our strength, and our determination to go to any extent in destroying the infrastructure of terrorism,' the Indian envoy said. He also talked about MPs' meetings with several Japanese officials and attending the Raisina Dialogue, where the lawmakers spoke on counter-terrorism and the fight against terrorism. He called it amazing that the whole nation has come together in its fight against terrorism. Elaborating on MP's meetings with Japanese officials, he said, 'We had received our members of parliament yesterday early morning and since then, it has been continuous meetings and interactions with the Japanese side. They met the Foreign minister. They met the former Prime Minister Mr Suga, Foreign Minister Mr. Iwaya, and members of the parliament from the Japanese side, also attended the Raisina Dialogue where we spoke about counterterrorism and fight against terrorism.' 'So, it has been a great day yesterday for the members of parliament visiting the Foreign Office, the parliament, and today again we started the day with an interaction with the resident ambassadors and you have seen how proactive the engagement and interaction where there were questions and answers and was very happy to see the members of the parliament replying to their questions in one voice,' he said 'It's an amazing India's diversity, the whole nation has come together in its fight against terrorism, and let me tell you this, Japan was one of the first countries to condemn the attack immediately after the incident on April 22nd. On 23rd itself, the Prime Minister of Japan telephoned our honourable Prime Minister and condemned the terror attacks, extended full support in the fight against terrorism, condolences on sympathies on the victims. So, then the foreign ministers spoke, I have received so many condolences messages and support messages from the Japanese at every level, and so it has been a period where everyone stood together in their commitment in their determination in the fight against terrorism,' he added. He stated, 'We saw a number of meetings that took place yesterday with the Foreign Minister and the former prime ministers. So, as I said, they were the one of the first to come out in open in support for India, conveying their sympathies, and they reiterated that position yesterday. So, they stand with us in the fight against terrorism.' An All-Party Parliamentary delegation from India, led by Sanjay Kumar Jha, is on a visit to Japan from May 22 to 24. The delegation aims to brief international partners on India's response to the April 22 Pahalgam terror attack and its broader fight against cross-border terrorism while engaging with leaders in Japan. The delegation, led by Jha, will also travel to Indonesia, Malaysia, South Korea, and Singapore. India launched Operation Sindoor, targeting nine terror sites in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Jammu and Kashmir (PoJK), in response to the terrorist attack in Pahalgam on April 22, which claimed the lives of 26 people and injured several others. Emphasising the ties between India and Japan, he said that the two nations have been 'great friends' traditionally and have a civilisational and cultural connection. He noted that India and Japan have excellent political, business, defence and security relationships. On India-Japan ties, he said, 'India and Japan has traditionally been great friends. We have a civilisational connection, a cultural connect. You go any part of this country, you will see an India connect and in the last few decades, this relationship has really grown. In 2014, Prime Minister, honourable Prime Minister Mr. Narendra Modi and Prime Minister Abe, then Prime Minister established a special strategic and global partnership. Why is it special? It is special first and foremost because we have no history of conflict. We have only history of friendship, and that is the base, solid base on which we are building our relationship today, we have excellent political relationship, excellent business relationship, defence and security relationship, and they want the people to people connect and we continue to grow every day. We do events, we do interact with the people, we engage with the sole purpose of building this relationship brick by brick and you look at any part yesterday you saw the kind of engagement and the Raisina Dialogue, many people who have contributed immensely in building this relationship have assembled together with one determination, we will take it forward. It's a special strategic and global partnership. Every day we work towards building that at every field. The number of Indians in Japan is growing now. I would like to have more. We want a quantum leap in our relationship in terms of numbers.' 'I would like to have more. Indian students to come and study here, more Japanese students to go and study in India. The youth exchanges, engagement, the professionals we need to increase. I would like to have 50,000 more Indian professionals to come to Japan in the next 5 years, we are working on that. So then one important thing we would like to cooperate more closely in defence equipment cooperation. That's a very big area we want to engage in. The defence minister of Japan was in India two weeks back. The speaker of the National Assembly of Japan was in India last during the golden week. So, this is, this is how we build our relationship. Political establishment on both sides are working together. The business leadership is working together. We see that in all across Japan, Tokyo alone is not Japan. Japan is much bigger than Tokyo. So I went to all the prefectures, all 47 of them, engaged with them, and now they are engaging with us. So, it's a beautiful relationship we are building,' he added. He also spoke about India-Japan cooperation on the Indo-Pacific. He said that India, Japan, the US, and Australia are part of the Quad, and India brings credibility to the forum. He noted that India has 1/6th of the world's total population but not 1/6 of the world's problems. He also talked about his visits to semiconductor facilities in Japan, including Rapidus in Hokkaido or and the Tokyo Electron facilities in Yamanashi. On India-Japan cooperation on Indo-Pacific, he said, 'You know our message. The message of our Prime Minister on free and open Indo Pacific. We want every country small and big work together as sovereign countries freedom for everybody. That is what India believes in, and though India works with Japan and our like-minded friends to make sure that there is peace, stability, security, and prosperity in the Indo-Pacific and beyond. Quad, we are working together four like-minded countries India, US, Australia, and Japan coming together and what we bring to the Quad? What does India bring to a forum like a Quad or a forum like a G20 or a forum like any forum you take it? What does India bring? India first and foremost brings credibility. It brings credibility. We are 1/6th of the total population of the world, but not 1/6 of the problems of the world. It is somewhere else. We bring solutions to the table whether it is Quad whether it is G20, whether it is BRICS, we bring solutions to the table. That is India's credibility. You go to any corner of the world, you see that this credibility, now our strategic autonomy that is appreciated and people are ready to work with us.' He called Japan a 'reliable partner' for India in growth and recalled how Suzuki came to India 40 years back. He also spoke about the growth of India's economy, calling it the 'fastest growing economy in the world.' He mentioned how both nations are investing in semiconductors. When asked how Japan and India are working together in technology sector, he responded, 'Japan has always been a reliable partner in our growth. You have seen it. Suzuki came to India 40 years ago, and Suzuki in India become bigger than Suzuki in Japan. Now there are more Suzukis in India than in Japan, but that is just one example. There are 1500 Japanese companies in India. These are 1500 success stories, but my target is to quantum leap there too. I want to make this 1500 into 15,000 small and medium-scale companies. With the technology, today, India is growing 6 per cent, 7 per cent, India is the fastest-growing large economy in the world, and we are growing more than any other country, faster than any other country in the world, which is appreciated, acknowledged, recognised, and people are working towards engaging with India. See it in Japan, any corner companies want to work with India.' 'The number of business delegations visiting India is too many of them going there now same is the case from India. So there is this quantum leap in our relationship, and you mentioned about the technology that is the most important thing, our government has this three T's programme, one important element is technology. We are working with the Japanese at every level, the small and medium scale companies also semiconductors is one area. India is investing heavily on semiconductors. Japan is also investing heavily on semiconductors. I visited most of their Japan, whether it is Rapidus in Hokkaido or there are other one, the Tokyo Electron facilities in Yamanashi or Sinai City. We have gone there and we have seen how Japan is investing in the semiconductors, we are also investing. So, there is complementarity in our engagement. No day in my life in Tokyo goes without doing something about semiconductors every day, this is the kind of engagement we have with Japan,' he added. He also talked about the collaboration between the universities of India and Japan. Highlighting the India-Japan ties in education sector, he said, 'In the last two months, we have two major progress. One, we have set up a joint school first with the Tohoku University and Mumbai IIT. I was there present in that meeting. This is the first time, that means a joint acceptance of the degrees. Second, recently we have signed signed MOU with one of the Japanese universities very recently at the university which focuses on Raman effect. I, in fact unveiled the statue of Dr CV Raman there in that university. So that is with the IIT Hyderabad. So we work very closely with the Japanese, and, this is the process, so work progress. We are improving this connectivity between the universities of India and Japan. You would be interested to know that last year we celebrated Diwali in 140 Japanese universities. This is something unique because India is making good progress in its engagement with Japan at every level.' (ANI)
Nikkei Asia
01-05-2025
- Politics
- Nikkei Asia
China, India quietly bid for global leadership as the US abdicates
Chietigj Bajpaee is senior fellow for South Asia at Chatham House, an international affairs think tank in London. He is co-author of a recent research paper: "How China-India relations will shape Asia and the global order." When China and India are talking about upholding the "rules-based international order" while the U.S. shuns the very order it helped to establish, you know that we are living in a New World Order. In March, I had the opportunity to attend major international conferences in both countries: the Raisina Dialogue in New Delhi and the Boao Forum for Asia in Hainan. Both events highlighted Beijing and New Delhi's visions of the emerging international order and their places in it.
Indian Express
29-04-2025
- Business
- Indian Express
Opinion 100 days of Trump: US-India ties remain on an even keel within an otherwise turbulent global order
On April 29, Donald Trump completed 100 days as US president. How has India navigated these first three months, given the high stakes with respect to multiple issues like tariffs, immigration and defence? On February 12 this year, Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited Washington, DC. He was one of the first national leaders of any consequence to visit the United States, barely a month after Trump's triumphant return to office. Even before he visited Washington, DC, he had dispatched his Minister of External Affairs, S Jaishankar, to meet with his counterpart, Marco Rubio, the US Secretary of State. Jaishankar, as a senior cabinet official, no doubt enjoys Modi's confidence and probably prepared the ground for the prime minister's visit. Modi's alacrity in visiting the United States was hardly accidental. Despite their apparent personal bonhomie, Trump had referred to India as the 'tariff king' and had made it abundantly clear that he planned to impose significant tariffs on India as part of his trade strategy. Through an early visit to the US, Modi had, no doubt, sought to curry favour with Trump to ward off the punishing tariffs. Such a strategy had much to recommend it. Trump, who fancies himself a deft negotiator, has many of the attributes of a schoolyard bully. Those who seek to propitiate him can often win favour in his universe. More to the point, even before he visited Washington, DC, Modi had already signalled a willingness to address Trump's obsession with tariffs. To that end, he had reduced tariffs on a range of American products, including the iconic Harley-Davidson motorcycle, a symbol of American manufacturing. During his visit, likely at Trump's prodding, Modi also made a tentative offer to purchase an unspecified number of F-35 fighter aircraft for the Indian Air Force — an extraordinary expense that India will incur if it proceeds with this acquisition. The Modi government had also accepted a host of Indian illegal immigrants whom the Trump administration had deported. Even as some members of the Opposition expressed reservations about the treatment of these deportees, including reports of them being shackled on the flights from the United States, Modi maintained a studious silence on the matter. All these acts of commission and omission were clearly designed to avoid a fracas with the second Trump administration. Since his visit, Trump's new Director of National Intelligence, Tulsi Gabbard, visited India in late March. Her trip included a meeting with Prime Minister Modi and an address to the annual Raisina Dialogue that the Ministry of External Affairs takes part in. During her visit, she highlighted the Trump administration's interest in working with India on matters ranging from intelligence sharing to counterterrorism — both issues of considerable significance to New Delhi. These visits and gestures all indicated that despite the fraught and contentious issues of tariffs, the relationship was now multi-faceted and that, despite a change in administrations, India enjoyed bipartisan support in the US. On 'liberation day', April 2, Trump imposed a sweeping set of tariffs on a global basis, not even sparing traditional American allies across Europe. On India, he imposed an overall tariff of 27 per cent. Barely a week later, for complex reasons including significant global backlash, he paused them for the next ninety days. This has provided India with an important reprieve, and the Modi government has made a concerted effort to try to arrive at a trade pact with the United States before the three-month moratorium ends. Meanwhile, in late April, Vice-President J D Vance and his wife, Usha, who is of Indian heritage, along with their three children, visited India. The visit clearly had both personal and professional components. Quite apart from the obligatory visit to the Taj Mahal, Vance also met with Prime Minister Modi, where he sought to boost two of President Trump's key goals in the bilateral relationship. The first, of course, was to boost US-India trade and to induce India to reduce a range of tariff barriers. Second, Vance also raised the matter of India purchasing more defence equipment from the United States. From a strictly bilateral standpoint, the optics of the visit were quite positive. Tragically, a brutal and unprecedented attack on Indian tourists in Kashmir — reportedly carried out by the Resistance Front, an offshoot of the vicious, Pakistan-based terrorist organisation Lashkar-e-Taiba — cast a pall over the vice-president's maiden visit to the country. The timing of this horrific incident notwithstanding — and one which the DNI, Tulsi Gabbard, has unequivocally condemned — it appears that US-India relations remain on an even keel in an otherwise turbulent and uncertain world. The key issue, which hangs like a sword of Damocles over the relationship, is the question of tariffs. If New Delhi manages to demonstrate some dexterity in tackling this vexed issue, then a bilateral relationship that has gathered much steam since the end of the Cold War may not lose its momentum.
