Two Indians, Ricky Gill and Saurabh Sharma, Join Trump’s Team with Key Roles

New York (The Uttam Hindu): President Donald Trump has appointed two Indian-origin people as his special assistants to deal with national security and personnel matters. Ricky Gill will work specifically with India as Senior Director for South and Central Asian Affairs in the National Security Council (NSC). Saurabh Sharma will work in the Presidential Personnel Office.

Gill previously served in the Trump administration as the director for Russia and European energy security at the National Security Council and as a senior adviser at the Bureau of Overseas Building Operations at the State Department. After leaving the NSC, he ran the 'Gill Capital Group' as its principal and general counsel. He was also an adviser for European and Asian energy at TC Energy, which owns the Keystone XL pipeline that carries oil from Canada to the US. A portion of the project approved by Trump was banned by former President Joe Biden.

His father's name is Jasbir and mother's name is Param Gill. He was born in Lodi, New Jersey. Gill has a bachelor's degree from the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs at Princeton University and a law degree from the University of California, Berkeley. He confirmed his appointment in a post on LinkedIn, which was reported by Politico. At the same time, Bangalore-born Sharma was the co-founder and president of Washington-based American Moment, a conservative organization. The organization says its mission is to "identify, educate, and recognize young Americans."

A Republican activist, he was the state chairman of the Young Conservatives of Texas. He also worked as a journalist with the Daily Caller, a conservative publication. Sharma 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.