Two Indian Americans have been appointed as special assistants dealing with national security and personnel matters by US President Donald Trump. While Ricky Gill will deal with India at the National Security Council (NSC) as the senior director for South and Central Asian affairs, Saurabh Sharma will work in the Presidential Personnel office, reports said.
Gill has a strong background in national security, having previously served at the NSC during the first Trump administration as the director for Russia and European Energy Security.
He also worked at the State Department as senior advisor in the Bureau of Overseas Buildings Operations.
After leaving the NSC, he became the principal and general counsel of Gill Capital Group. Gill has also advised on European and Asian energy for TC Energy, the company behind the Keystone XL Pipeline, a project approved by Trump but later blocked by President Joe Biden.
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Gill is the son of Jasbir and Param Gill. He was born in Lodi, a borough in New Jersey.
He has a bachelor’s degree and a law degree from the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs at Princeton University and the University of California, Berkeley, respectively.
Gill confirmed his appointment in a post on LinkedIn.
Sharma, born in southern India’s Bengaluru, the state capital of Karnataka, co-founded and served as the president of the Washington-based American Moment, a conservative organisation.
He was also the state chairman of Young Conservatives of Texas, as per reports.
Sharma, who had a stint as a journalist with the Daily Caller, has a bachelor’s degree in biochemistry from the University of Texas.
His appointment was reported by Politico and confirmed by American Moment on its website.
