'America first' is not about isolationism, says Gabbard

President Donald Trump's focus on "America first" isn't about isolationism and the India-US partnership will grow and strengthen as the two sides engage within the Quad, tackle challenges in the Indo-Pacific and work on security issues, US director of national intelligence Tulsi Gabbard said on Tuesday.

- Rezaul H Laskar

NEW DELHI:

Gabbard didn't refer to Trump's threat of imposing reciprocal tariffs from April 2 or to New Delhi's specific security concerns while speaking at the Raisina Dialogue, India's flagship conference on geopolitics, but sent out a strong signal of continuity in India-US ties that have burgeoned in the past two decades.

The first Hindu American to head the US intelligence community was in New Delhi to attend an international security conclave chaired by National Security Adviser Ajit Doval on Sunday and to participate in the Raisina Dialogue. She was the first senior White House official to travel to India since Trump's inauguration.

Trump's commitment to "America first" and putting the security of Americans at forefront of his policies shouldn't be misunderstood as "America alone", Gabbard argued. This, she said, is similar to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's commitment to "India first".