US NSA likely to visit India in third week of April
If the visit happens, Waltz will be the second Trump cabinet member in India after DNI Tulsi Gabbard, who visited New Delhi earlier this month.
US National Security Advisor Mike Waltz is expected to visit India in the third week of April for a meeting with his Indian counterpart on the TRUST initiative for technology cooperation, people familiar with the matter said.
Waltz, who is expected to travel to India between April 21 and 23, will also participate in a closed-door India-US Forum being organised by a think tank, the people said on condition of anonymity.
The US NSA, however, has been under a cloud since it emerged on Monday that he accidentally added a journalist from The Atlantic magazine to a chat group of the American national security leadership on the Signal messaging app that was created to discuss attacks on the Houthi rebels in Yemen.
The revelation, covered extensively by the US media, and its implications for national security have led to calls by opposition Democratic lawmakers and some Republican leaders for Waltz’s removal.
If the visit goes ahead, Waltz will be the second member of US President Donald Trump’s cabinet to visit India after Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, who was in New Delhi this month for a security conclave and the Raisina Dialogue.
The TRUST (Transforming the Relationship Utilizing Strategic Technology) initiative, launched at a meeting between Trump and Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Washington last month, is a rebranded version of the Initiative on Critical and Emerging Technologies (iCET).
TRUST is focused on collaboration between the governments, academia and private sectors of India and the US on critical and emerging technologies in areas such as defence, artificial intelligence, semiconductors, quantum computing, biotechnology, energy and space, and ensuring the protection of sensitive technologies.
Like iCET, TRUST is headed by the NSAs of the two sides and the meeting will be an opportunity for India and US to take stock of a range of initiatives on defence and critical technologies, including addressing export controls, reducing regulatory barriers and building trusted supply chains.
The people cited above said dates are yet to be finalised for a proposed trip by US vice president JD Vance and his Indian-origin wife, Usha, though an American advance security team has scoped out several places they are likely to visit.
“There were reports of a possible visit in April but nothing is final as of now. The US advance team has been to several places as part of the preparations,” one person said.
Among the locations visited by American security team last week were Jaipur, Shimla and Hyderabad, which is being considered as a place the couple could visit with their three children because Usha’s parents Radhakrishna Chilukuri and Lakshmi Chilukuri trace their roots to Andhra Pradesh.
In addition to official engagements, the visit is expected to have a strong personal angle by way of the couple introducing their children – sons Ewan and Vivek and daughter Maribel – to India, the people said.
Vance met Usha Chilukuri while attending Yale Law School and the couple married in 2014.
