New Delhi: Ricky Gill, an Indian-origin advisor to US President Donald Trump, has been conferred the National Security Council’s Distinguished Action Award.The award, presented earlier this week by US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, reportedly cited Gill’s role in “India-Pakistan ceasefire negotiations,” a claim of third-party mediation that New Delhi has consistently rejected.Gill, who serves as Special Assistant to the President and Senior Director for South and Central Asia at the National Security Council (NSC), received the honour in Washington. This development comes months after the Trump administration asserted it was mediating the conflict between the two nuclear-armed neighbours. The Ministry of External Affairs has categorically maintained that all issues with Pakistan are bilateral and there is no scope for third-party intervention.BackgroundGill, a lawyer by training, currently oversees the US policy portfolio for India, Pakistan, Afghanistan, and broader South and Central Asia. This is his second stint at the NSC; during Mr. Trump’s first term (2017–2021), he served as the Director for Russia and European Energy Security.He also served as a Senior Advisor in the State Department’s Bureau of Overseas Buildings Operations, where he was involved in the sensitive relocation of the U.S. Embassy in Israel to Jerusalem.Born Ranjit Singh Gill to immigrant physicians, the official’s primary ties are to California’s Central Valley. His entry into public service began early; at age 17, he was appointed by the then California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger to the State Board of Education as its sole student member.A member of the Republican Party, Gill won the nomination for California’s 9th Congressional District in 2012 at the age of 25. He addressed the Republican National Convention that year, though he lost the general election to the incumbent.Gill holds 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. Before returning to government service, he worked as a policy advisor for TC Energy and as general counsel for Gill Capital Group.