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Mahakumbh, ‘Tulsi’ Connection In Gifts Exchanged By PM Modi, US Intel Chief

Word Count: 372 | Estimated Reading Time: 2 minutes

New Delhi:

Prime Minister Narendra Modi today met with US Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard in New Delhi. They exchanged exceptional gifts as they greeted each other. The Prime Minister’s gift was from the recently-concluded Mahakumbh – Gangajal (Water from the Ganges).

Handing her a pitcher, PM Modi said, “In the recently-concluded Mahakumbh, a 45-day-long festival, more than 66 crore people took a holy dip at the Triveni Sangam – the confluence of the three holy rivers the Ganga, Yamuna, and now extinct Saraswati. I also took the dip. The Gangajal is from the Kumbh”.

The gift he received from Ms Gabbard was also special – a Tulsi rosary.

“This is a gift from me and my new position as director. This is from Tulsi ji, a Tulsi mala (rosary made from the wood of the Tulsi plant),” she said.

#WATCH | Delhi: US Director of National Intelligence (DNI) Tulsi Gabbard met Prime Minister Narendra Modi today. The PM presented her with a vase containing Gangajal from the recently concluded Prayagraj Mahakumbh. pic.twitter.com/jJ0OJbggNF

— ANI (@ANI) March 17, 2025

Ms Gabbard is in India as part of her multi-nation visit. The Asia leg of her trip will conclude with an address on March 18 at the Raisina Dialogue, a multinational gathering of security officials in Delhi, to which PM Modi invited her.

Earlier in the day, she held wide-ranging talks with Defence Minister Rajnath Singh. The defence ministry said Ms Gabbard and Mr Singh emphasised that “strategic security” remains a vital pillar of the India-US comprehensive global strategic cooperation.

“Rajnath Singh and Tulsi Gabbard reviewed the significant strides made in the areas of military exercises, strategic cooperation, integration of defence industrial supply chains and information-sharing cooperation, especially in the maritime domain, between India and the US,” it said in a statement.

Yesterday, she met National Security Advisor Ajit Doval and attended a conclave of global intelligence czars hosted by India in the national capital. Ms Gabbard, Canadian spy chief Daniel Rogers and UK National Security Adviser Jonathan Powell were among the top global intelligence czars who attended the India-hosted security conclave chaired by Mr Doval.

Last month, she met Prime Minister Narendra Modi during his visit to Washington DC.

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