Indian American diplomat Ricky Gill has received the National Security Council’s Distinguished Action Award for his role in ceasefire negotiations between India and Pakistan this year despite New Delhi’s denial of any U.S. involvement.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio presented the award to Gill, 38, who serves as Special Assistant to the President and Senior Director for South and Central Asia at the National Security Council.
The Distinguished Action Award is among the NSC’s highest internal recognitions, acknowledging exceptional service in advancing U.S. national security objectives.
The recognition was for Gill’s contribution to “internal coordination and diplomatic outreach” related to the India-Pakistan ceasefire framework during 2025, according to U.S. officials.
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India has consistently denied any U.S. role in the May 2025 ceasefire between the two South Asian neighbors maintaining the understanding was arrived at bilaterally through established military and diplomatic channels.
The Indian government told Parliament that the cessation of firing on May 10 resulted from direct contact between the Director Generals of Military Operations (DGMOs) of both nations, initiated by Pakistan, with no U.S. mediation involved.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi also made it “unequivocally clear” to President Donald Trump that India neither accepts nor will ever accept any third party mediation.
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Gill currently oversees the India, Pakistan, Afghanistan, and broader South and Central Asia portfolio at the NSC. He previously served in the first Trump administration as Director for Russia and European Energy Security at the NSC, and earlier as Senior Advisor at the U.S. State Department’s Bureau of Overseas Buildings Operations.
Born in Lodi, New Jersey, to parents Jasbir and Param Gill, he holds a bachelor’s degree from Princeton University’s Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs and a law degree from UC Berkeley.
In 2011, he ran unsuccessfully for the U.S. Congress from California’s District 11 seat against Jerry McNerney. He ran again four years later when the seat became the 9th District, and he again lost to McNerney.
Gill has also served as policy consultant for Educational Testing Service in Princeton, N.J.; worked for former U.S. Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist and the Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions in 2006; served as legal counselor for Oakland Athletics in the summer of 2010; and previously served on the Lodi Boys & Girls Club board of directors.