Who is Mike Waltz, Donald Trump's new NSA pick? What are his ties to India Caucus?

President-elect Donald Trump has chosen Mike Waltz to be his National Security Adviser.

Waltz, a Republican, is part of the India Caucus.in the House.

But what do we know about Waltz? And what is the India Caucus?

Let’s take a closer look:

• As per India Today, Waltz is the first Green Beret to be elected to the US House. Waltz is a three-term Republican representative from east-central Florida.

• Graduating from the Virginia Military Institute, Waltz served in the army for four years. Waltz, while in the army, served in Afghanistan, West Asia and Africa.

• The Trump loyalist and Congressman from Florida earlier served in the National Guard as a colonel – where he received four Bronze Stars.

• The 50-year-old is a vocal critic of China. He has been critical of China’s activities in the Asia-Pacific and has voiced the need for the United States to be ready for a potential conflict in the region.

• The national security adviser is a powerful role, which does not require Senate confirmation. Waltz will be responsible for briefing Trump on key national security issues and coordinating with different agencies.

• While slamming the Biden administration for a disastrous withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021, Waltz has publicly praised Trump’s foreign policy views. “Disruptors are often not nice … frankly our national security establishment and certainly a lot of people that are dug into bad old habits in the Pentagon need that disruption,” Waltz said during an event earlier this year. “Donald Trump is that disruptor,” he said.

• Waltz has a long history in Washington’s political circles. He was a defence policy director for defence secretaries Donald Rumsfeld and Robert Gates and was elected to Congress in 2018.

• Waltz is the chairman of the House Armed Services subcommittee overseeing military logistics and also on the select committee on intelligence. Waltz is also on the Republicans’ China Task Force and has argued the US military is not as prepared as it needs to be if there is conflict in the Indo-Pacific region.

• Waltz, who was in the running to be defence secretary, could rankle some in the uniformed ranks. As a congressman from Florida, he has been at the forefront of a conservative movement opposed to teaching certain theories about racism and has criticised military officials for it.

• He has also lamented the Pentagon’s failure to fire generals and civilian bureaucrats who fail to perform. “We need to get a culture of accountability into that place. No one ever seems to get fired, with these massive cost over-runs, massive waste,” Waltz told Fox News last week. “We don’t need managers there. We need reformers.”

• He has criticised the military for being political under President Joe Biden’s administration.

• In 2023, Waltz introduced an act in Congress that would have required an audit of “unnecessary and political DEI (diversity, equity and inclusion) programs” in the military and “restore a merit-based culture to our ranks.”

• In a book published earlier this year titled “Hard Truths: Think and Lead Like a Green Beret,” Waltz laid out a five-part strategy to preventing war with China, including arming Taiwan faster, re-assuring allies in the Pacific, and modernizing planes and ships.

• On Ukraine, Waltz has said his views have evolved. After Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine, he called for the Biden administration to provide more weapons to Kyiv to help them push back Russian forces.

• But during an event last month, Waltz said there had to be a reassessment of the United States’ aims in Ukraine. “Is it in America’s interest, are we going to put in the time, the treasure, the resources that we need in the Pacific right now badly?” Waltz asked.

• Waltz has praised Trump for pushing NATO allies to spend more on defence, but unlike the president-elect has not suggested the United States pull out of the alliance. “Look we can be allies and friends and have tough conversations,” Waltz said last month.
  Waltz demonstrated his loyalty to Trump earlier this year when he appeared at Trump’s May 16 hush-money court hearing in Manhattan, one of only a handful of lawmakers to do so.

• During a tense congressional hearing with the top US general in 2021, Waltz was critical of the US Military Academy at West Point for teaching critical race theory, which maintains that legacies of slavery and segregation have created an uneven playing field for Black Americans.

• The India Caucus in the House is officially known as the Congressional Caucus on India and Indian-Americans.

• Founded in 1993, it describes itself as a “bipartisan coalition of lawmakers committed to strengthening the relationship between the United States and India.”

• “In the new Congress, the members will continue working to strengthen partnerships between policy makers and the Indian American diaspora communities and reduce India’s reliance on Russian defence systems,” its website states.

• Waltz and Indian-American representative Ro Khanna, who is in the Samosa Caucus, chair the India Caucus in the House.

• Interestingly, there is also an Indian Caucus in the Senate. That group was founded in 2004 by Hillary Clinton and John Cornyn.

• It describes itself as “a bipartisan coalition that promotes relations between the United States and India across a broad spectrum of strategic interests, such as combating terrorism and promoting democracy, economic development, human rights, scientific research, and natural disaster relief.”

With inputs from agencies