In a shocking turn of events, an India-born US State Department employee has been arrested in for allegedly retaining classified records and for meeting Chinese officials. Details of these allegations were included in a legal affidavit filed in a federal court in Virginia. On October 13, Ashley Tellis — a top US expert on India and senior adviser at the State Department — was officially charged with illegally keeping national defence information.
Ashley Tellis accused of..
Tellis has been accused of keeping secret national defence documents without permission. He is also alleged to have met several times with officials from the Chinese government.
Who is Ashley Tellis?
Born in India, the 64-year-old Ashley Tellis was a key figure in the US state department. He has been, serving as an adviser since 2001 with the US department. He reportedly played a key role in the US-India civil nuclear deal talks in the mid-2000s.
Tellis has also served in senior positions under former President George W Bush. According to an AFP report, Tellis played a key role in negotiating the Bush administration’s landmark civil nuclear agreement with India, sealed in 2008. The agreement is still seen as a turning point that strengthened the world’s two largest countries.
What Ashley Tellis said on Trump, India and US tariffs
After the India-US tariff debate and Trump’s praise of Pakistan, Tellis reportedly said that Trump felt cheated because he didn’t get credit for resolving the India-Pakistan conflict after the Pahalgam attack in May this year. “I think he feels cheated that he did not get the credit he believes he deserves for having resolved the India-Pakistan crisis in May 2025. My suspicion is that Prime Minister Modi’s call to him, meant to set the record straight, only worsened the situation instead of easing it,” Tellis told NDTV.
Charges against Ashley Tellis
Tellis, a senior fellow and Tata Chair for Strategic Affairs at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, was taken into custody over the weekend. He was accused of handling of restricted government material.
Prosecutors allege that Tellis violated 18 USC § 793(e), which prohibits unauthorised possession or retention of defence-related documents.
US Attorney Lindsey Halligan announced the charges in a press release, stating that the alleged conduct posed “a grave risk to the safety and security of our citizens.”
What if Ashley Tellis gets convicted?
If convicted, Tellis could face up to 10 years in prison with a fine of $250,000. It also includes forfeiture of the materials involved. The government clarified that the complaint against Tellis is merely an accusation at this stage. He has not been proven guilty, and under the law, he remains innocent until a court delivers a verdict.
