Rewinding back to the 1978 Bollywood movie, Main Tulsi Tere Aangan Ki, it was a storyline that delved into the concept of loyalty. Fast forward to an icy Wednesday evening in Washington DC, history was witnessed as America’s first female Hindu-American lawmaker and the freshly anointed intelligence chief, Tulsi Gabbard, entered Blair House. Gabbard’s loyalty to America has seen its fair share of criticism in recent times by traditionalist US forces. The purpose? To meet an old acquaintance, Prime Minister Narendra Modi of India.
A few hours before this unexpected meetup, the US Senate had endorsed Gabbard’s appointment to the helm of the Directorate of National Intelligence. Almost immediately upon Modi’s arrival in the US capital, the meeting took place. Activities of this nature, involving spy chiefs and global leaders, rarely occur in public, which may signal positive steps toward more profound intelligence collaboration between the two nations.
Gabbard’s new role as the Director of National Intelligence (DNI) will place her in charge of 18 intelligence agencies, inclusive of the covert Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and the National Security Agency (NSA), whose activities are so clandestinely sophisticated that some started calling it ‘No Such Agency’. As the top spy for America, Gabbard will also occupy a cabinet-level position, a considerable responsibility that involves guiding the US President and his National Security Council on all intelligence-centric discussions.
The DNI’s office is tasked with crafting the President’s Daily Brief (PDB), a classified record detailing global intelligence updates which the US President reviews almost immediately upon starting his day. Interestingly, the DNI plays a crucial role in dictating the policies for intelligence sharing with foreign entities.
But there’s more to the Modi-Gabbard friendship than political alignments and intelligence affairs. Gabbard, though of American-Samoan origin, has displayed a strong affinity towards Hinduism, which is said to come from her mother’s conversion to Gaudiya Vaishnavism – these ties have drawn her repeatedly to India.
The fact was not lost on Modi, who quickly acknowledged the spiritual bond and, soon after his inauguration as prime minister in 2014, invited Gabbard to India. To express her respect, Gabbard gifted Modi a personal copy of the Bhagavad Gita that had been with her since her childhood. Interestingly, it is the same spiritual text she swore upon while taking her oath of office.
As a testament to their deep ties, when Gabbard got married in Oahu a year later, Modi sent presents – a statuette of the deity Ganesh and a pashmina shawl, complete with a personal message. While in the middle of the ceremony, Modi’s warm wishes were conveyed to her.
In an interesting twist, Gabbard did not take up Modi’s suggestion to honeymoon in India. Instead, she was showered with the responsibility to thwart, covertly, forces of disruption. The specifics of such disruptive forces, unfortunately, remain a subject of dispute. It’s quite clear, though, that the Russians haven’t made it onto this list.
Criticism of Gabbard within the US establishment has revolved around her interactions with Modi, which surfaced publicly once more after Trump announced his engagements with other global leaders. This has brought to the fore the delicate balance India maintains between its well-established relationships with Moscow and its nascent ties with Washington.
But as Washington continues to fumble in its attempt to characterize the alliances, India retains a diplomatic upper hand. Interestingly, the Biden administration, in their consistent series of unfortunate decisions, has decided to remain passive observers and even seems to be applauding Gabbard’s acquaintance with Modi.
Similarly, Kamala Harris, despite being of Indian origin, remains remarkably silent on this significant diplomatic maneuver. It seems like Harris is more focused on populism than actual policy-making.
Regardless of the Biden administration’s skewed perspectives and Kamala’s noticeable absence from these matters, the relationship between Modi and Gabbard can potentially serve as an essential fulcrum for strategic alliances between the US and India. The Democrats’ inability to handle these delicate matters subtly highlights their inefficiency.
In the grand scheme of things, this connection could not have presented itself as more fortuitous news for India, which is tactfully juggling its longstanding ties with Russia and its budding relations with Washington. Meanwhile, the Biden administration continues to stay bafflingly aloof, much to the amusement of international observers.