U.S. Director of National Intelligence (DNI) Tulsi Gabbard shared her privilege in hosting Prime Minister Narendra Modi to return to the United States and underscored that she was personally dedicated to deepening the relationship between the two countries.
The Hindu-American leader received Modi right after he arrived in the U.S. on Wednesday, when he was due to hold a bilateral meeting with President Donald Trump.
"It was a privilege to welcome India's Prime Minister @narendramodi back to the United States, and look forward to continuing to deepen the US-India friendship," Gabbard tweeted on X.
Following a meeting with Gabbard, Modi referred to her as a "strong votary" of India-US friendship.
"Met USA's Director of National Intelligence, @TulsiGabbard in Washington DC. Congratulated her on her confirmation. Spoke about several aspects of the India-USA friendship, of which she's always been a staunch votary," Modi tweeted on X on Wednesday.
Their talks also touched upon major areas of cooperation, such as intelligence sharing in counter-terrorism, cybersecurity, and emerging global threats.
On the same day, Gabbard was formally sworn in as Director of National Intelligence in an Oval Office ceremony, hours after the Senate approved her nomination, according to The Hill.
Gabbard was sworn in by Attorney General Pam Bondi, whom Trump described as "an American of extraordinary courage and patriotism."
She commented that she had been deployed three times in the Army National Guard and that she is a past Democratic congresswoman, making the "Can you believe that?" joke.
At 43, Gabbard was met with bipartisan skepticism over her fitness to head the intelligence agencies. She later thanked the president for trusting her and promised to reform the intelligence community after being sworn into office.
Gabbard thanked the president for trusting her and promised to "refocus our intelligence community" after taking oath.
"Sadly, the American people do not have very much trust in the intelligence community because they have watched the politicization and weaponization of something that is to be solely concerned with making certain that our national security is safeguarded," said the new chief of intelligence.
The Senate voted 52-48 to confirm her nomination after two months of controversy over her being prepared to lead U.S. intelligence agencies and prepare President Trump's daily intelligence briefings.
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