New Delhi:
National Security Advisor Ajit Doval on Sunday held bilateral talks with US Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, and chaired a conclave of top global intelligence czars focusing on boosting cooperation in confronting various security challenges including terrorism and threats posed by emerging technologies.
In their one-on-one meeting, Mr Doval and Ms Gabbard mainly discussed ways to strengthen intelligence sharing and working closely in the security domain in sync with the India-US global strategic partnership, it is learnt.
Ms Gabbard arrived in the national capital early 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.
It was “good discussion”, top sources told PTI on the Doval-Gabbard meeting.
The US director of national intelligence, Canadian spy chief Daniel Rogers, and UK National Security Adviser Jonathan Powell were among top global intelligence czars who attended the India-hosted security conclave here.
The deliberations were held behind closed doors and there was no official word on them.
However, it is learnt that the top intelligence and security officials focused on sharing of intelligence and cooperation to tackle terrorism and threats posed by emerging technologies.
The meeting also focused on security in the Indo-Pacific region, cooperation to counter terror funding and money laundering and issues relating to extradition and immigration, people familiar with the matter said.
The Indian side also raised its concerns about anti-India elements operating from foreign soil, including pro-Khalistan elements, they said.
Intelligence chiefs of Australia, Germany, New Zealand and several other friendly countries of India were learnt to have attended the conclave.
Ms Gabbard is visiting India as part of a multi-nation tour of Japan, Thailand and France.
The US intelligence chief will also address the Raisina Dialogue on Tuesday.
Last month, Gabbard met Prime Minister Narendra Modi during his visit to Washington DC.
In their deliberations, the intelligence chiefs were understood to have deliberated on various global challenges including implications of the Russia-Ukraine war and the conflict in the Middle East.
The visit to India by Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) chief Rogers has taken place amid frosty ties between the two countries over the Hardeep Singh Nijjar case.
The ties between India and Canada came under severe strain following the then Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s allegations in September 2023 of the “potential” involvement of Indian agents in the killing of Nijjar on Canadian soil.
New Delhi rejected Trudeau’s charges as “absurd”. The relations nosedived further in the second half of last year after Ottawa linked several Indian diplomats including High Commissioner Sanjay Verma to the murder of Nijjar.
In October last, Canada expelled Mr Verma and five other diplomats. In retaliation, New Delhi also expelled Canadian Charge d’Affaires Stewart Wheeler and five other diplomats. It is expected that the case may figure during Doval’s conversation with Rogers.
It is Ms Gabbard’s second foreign trip after assuming charge as the director of national intelligence. During her first international trip, Gabbard travelled to Germany to attend the Munich Security Conference last month.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
