Jaishankar Meets Trump’s NSA Pick Waltz; Discusses Bilateral Ties, Global Issues

San Francisco: External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar has met Congressman Michael Waltz, President-elect Donald Trump’s nominee for National Security Advisor, during which they had a wide-ranging conversation on the bilateral partnership between India and the US as well as current global issues.

Jaishankar is currently on an official visit to the US from Dec 24-29. This was the first highest-level in-person meeting between the Indian government and the incoming Trump administration.

“Delighted to meet” Waltz “this evening”, Jaishankar posted on X on Friday.

“Enjoyed a wide-ranging conversation on our bilateral partnership as well as current global issues. Look forward to working with him,” he said.

Waltz, 50, would replace Jake Sullivan as the National Security Advisor on January 20, when Trump would be sworn in as the 47th President of the United States.

Waltz is no stranger to India-US relationship. A three-term Congressman from the sixth Congressional District of Florida, Waltz is Republican Co-Chair of Congressional India Caucus, which is the largest country-specific Caucus in the US House of Representatives.

Waltz also co-led a Congressional delegation to India in August last year and attended the Independence Day celebrations at Red Fort. He has been the sponsor of several India-friendly legislations in the House of Representatives. On November 12, Trump announced that Waltz would be his National Security Advisor.

Earlier in the day, Jaishankar said he “concluded a very useful two-day conference of team @IndianEmbassyUS and our Consuls General in Washington DC”.

“Confident from the deliberations that the continuous growth of the India-US partnership will be accelerated,” he posted on X.