 "Who is Ranjit 'Ricky' Gill, Trump official awarded for India-Pak ceasefire?")
Indian-origin US advisor Ranjit ‘Ricky’ Singh Gill has come into focus after receiving a Distinguished Action Award from the National Security Council (NSC) for his role in “negotiating” a ceasefire between India and Pakistan earlier this year.
The award was conferred earlier this week by US Secretary of State Marco Rubio. Gill, 37, serves as senior director for South and Central Asia at the NSC and is a special assistant to US President Donald Trump.
In May, India launched Operation Sindoor, targeting nine terrorist infrastructure sites in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK), following the April 22 Pahalgam terror attack in which 26 people, mostly tourists, were killed.
US President Donald Trump has repeatedly claimed that Washington played a role in negotiating a ceasefire between India and Pakistan. Indian authorities have consistently denied any US involvement.
Who is Ranjit ‘Ricky’ Gill?
Gill was born in Lodi, New Jersey, to Indian-origin physicians Jasbir Gill and Param Gill. He graduated from Princeton University’s Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs and later earned a law degree from the University of California, Berkeley.
Before joining the NSC, Gill served for two years as a member of the Council on Foreign Relations. He has previously held roles within the Trump administration’s NSC as director for Russia and European energy security, according to his LinkedIn profile.
He has also worked as a senior adviser at the US State Department’s Bureau of Overseas Buildings Operations. In his current role, Gill handles India, Pakistan and Afghanistan, along with broader South and Central Asia-related issues.
What roles has Gill held outside government?
Apart from government service, Gill has worked as a policy adviser for TC Energy, the owner of the Keystone XL pipeline. According to reports, he visited India in August this year to discuss the long-delayed India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor (IMEC) amid trade tensions and tariff disputes.
Before joining the government, Gill contested the 2012 election for California’s House seat as a Republican at the age of 24, narrowly losing to Democrat Jerry McNerney.