Who is Ashley Tellis? Indian-origin expert who is kept in the US on links on links in China, and holds illegally classified files

Ashley Tellis, an American expert on US foreign policy, was arrested on October 13 and charged with the illegal retention of national defense information. The affidavit filed against him in a court in Virginia contains multiple federal legislation violations. It also describes a number of meetings he presumably held with Chinese government representatives at restaurants in Fairfax, Virginia, ranging from September 2022 to September 2025, according to HT. The document noted that “Tellis entered the restaurant during a dinner on September 15, 2022 with a Manila envelope” who “did not look” to be with him when he left. The affidavit further claims that Tellis and Chinese officials allegedly heard to talk about topics such as Iranian-Chinese relationships and US-Pakistan relations, and that he received a red gift by officials. Who is Ashley Tellis? Ashley Tellis, originally from Mumbai, 64, has his bachelor and master’s degrees at the St. Xavier’s College under the University of Bombay before entering a Ph.D. In political science at the University of Chicago. In the course of his career, he held several key positions, including in the National Security Council as a special assistant of President George W. Bush and as senior director for strategic planning and Southwest Asia. He also served as a senior adviser of the US Ambassador to New -Delhi. Tellis, widely recognized as one of the leading US experts in India, played an important role in the negotiations of the US Indian Civil Nuclear Agreement during the mid-2000s. He was a naturalized American citizen and has been an adviser to the State Department since 2001. US President Donald Trump administration officials, including director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, promised to take legal action against those who handle classified information improperly. Meanwhile, a statement from the Justice Department indicated that Tellis, if convicted, could be sentenced to ten years imprisonment and up to $ 250,000. According to a report by Reuters, Lindsey Haligan, US attorney at the Eastern District of Virginia, said: “We are fully focused on protecting the US population against all threats, foreign and domestic.