During her recent visit to India, Tulsi Gabbard, the U.S. Director of National Intelligence, stressed President Donald Trump's steadfast commitment to combating Islamist terrorism, which she described as a significant and ongoing threat to American citizens.

In her remarks, Gabbard highlighted the global nature of this threat, noting its impact not only in the United States but also in countries like India, Bangladesh, Syria, and Israel.

She stated that both the U.S. and India are united in their efforts to address this persistent issue, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi also recognising the seriousness of the situation.

"President Trump, through his first administration in the presidency, and it continues now, has been very clear about his commitment to defeating this threat of Islamist terrorism that has unfortunately plagued us, and continues to pose a direct threat to the American people." said Gabbard.

Gabbard articulated that Trump's administration has consistently made clear its dedication to defeating Islamist terrorism, which she believes has plagued both nations.

She pointed out that this ideology poses a direct danger to people across various regions, reinforcing the necessity for collaborative efforts between the two countries to identify and neutralize such threats.

Gabbard, also addressed concerns regarding the involvement of US intelligence agents in potential regime change efforts in India. She stated that, to her knowledge, there was no involvement of US intelligence in such activities. However, she highlighted a troubling incident where intelligence professionals engaged in "highly unprofessional and sexually explicit conversations" on an intelligence-based chat network over an extended period.

Gabbard stressed that these actions not only breached the expected professionalism of government employees but also undermined the trust that the American public must have in their intelligence community.

She reiterated her commitment to ensuring that the intelligence community remains focused on its core mission of national security and truth-seeking, distancing itself from distractions such as inappropriate conduct and politicization of intelligence matters.

"I can tell you to my knowledge, the answer is no. what you are referring to unfortunately was an incident that came to my attention where for an extended period of time we had intelligence professionals who were using an intelligence-based chat network to conduct a highly unprofessional and sexually explicit conversation. This not only violates the basic professionalism that we expect of all of our government employees, but it really violates the specifically around those, the trust that the American people need to have in our intelligence professionals," she said.

Her comments reflect a broader concern regarding the global ramifications of terrorism and the need for strategic partnerships in counterterrorism initiatives.

ANI