US intelligence chief Tulsi attends top security meet in Delhi, Bangladesh likely to be on agenda 

US Director of National Intelligence (DNI) Tulsi Gabbard is in India to participate in a meeting of top security officials from around the world and the Raisina Dialogue, becoming the first senior official of the Trump administration to travel to the country.

She arrived in Delhi on Sunday for a crucial three-day visit, where she is set to meet Indian National Security Adviser (NSA) Ajit Doval, and Bangladesh is likely to be in the agenda of the discussion, according to media reports. 

Gabbard, who is on a multi-nation trip to the Indo-Pacific that will also take her to Japan, Thailand and France, is expected to meet the top Indian leadership, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi, people familiar with the matter said on condition of anonymity on Sunday, reports Hindustan Times. 

She will deliver a keynote address and participate in a conversation at the Raisina Dialogue, the country's flagship conference on geopolitics and geo-economics, on March 18. Details of Gabbard's itinerary were not released by the Indian or the US side. 

This is the second foreign visit by Gabbard, who travelled to Germany for the Munich Security Conference shortly after her confirmation as DNI in February. 

Soon after her arrival in India, Gabbard joined intelligence and security officials from about 20 countries for a conclave chaired by National Security Adviser (NSA) Ajit Doval. The National Security Council Secretariat has hosted the conclave on the margins of the Raisina Dialogue since 2022.

Details regarding the meeting held behind closed doors were not released, though the people cited above said it focused on sharing of intelligence and cooperation to tackle terrorism, terror funding and threats posed by emerging technologies. The Indian side also raised its concerns about anti-India elements operating from foreign soil, including pro-Khalistan elements, the people said. 

Doval is also expected to hold separate one-on-one meetings with the intelligence and security officials who are in India for the security conclave, which has been referred to in the past as the Raisina Security Dialogue and the Raisina Intelligence Forum. 

Among the countries whose intelligence and security officials are in India for the conclave are Canada, the UK, Australia, New Zealand and the United Arab Emirates. The people said a meeting of senior security officials of the "Five Eyes" grouping – which includes Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the UK and the US – is not being ruled out.

Gabbard too has not posted at length on her social media account about her ongoing visit to the Indo-Pacific region. In a social media post on March 11, she said the visit will focus on building "strong relationships, understanding, and open lines of communication" that are vital to achieving Trump's "objectives of peace, freedom and prosperity".

In a previous conversation between Narendra Modi spoke with then-US president Joe Biden over the phone, India raised concerns over an alleged persecution of Hindus in Bangladesh.

The topic was also discussed when Modi met President Trump at the White House last month.

Additionally, Indian External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar spoke on Bangladesh in his meetings with top US officials.