The arrest of Ashley Tellis, a prominent Indian-origin former U.S. government official, has stunned diplomats, officials, and policy experts alike. Tellis faces charges from the U.S. Department of Justice for allegedly possessing secret defense documents and accessing sensitive military hardware information. He had reportedly been under surveillance for at least three years, during which time he was observed meeting with Chinese officials.
At 64, Tellis is a highly recognized figure in foreign policy circles and a frequent public speaker. Throughout his career, dating back to his role as Special Assistant to former U.S. Ambassador to India Robert Blackwill (2000-2003), he maintained extensive connections with officials managing India-U.S. relations in both Delhi and Washington.
The revelation came as a particular shock to officials within India’s Ministry of External Affairs, who noted Tellis’s “extraordinary access” to various echelons of foreign policy, defense, and national security bodies in New Delhi.
One former official described Tellis as a “highly regarded scholar” who uniquely enjoyed excellent relationships with both the late former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and current Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Illustrating his stature, a book he co-edited, “Getting India Back on Track: An Action Agenda for Reform,” was launched by Prime Minister Modi himself in 2014. More recently, in 2022, his co-edited work, “Grasping Greatness,” was released by External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar.
Tellis’s arrest over the weekend was for the “unlawful retention of national defense information,” violating 18 U.S.C. § 793(e) – a statute concerning the unauthorized gathering, transmitting, or loss of national security data, documents, or codes. The U.S. Attorney’s office in Virginia confirmed the charges on Wednesday, stating that if convicted, Tellis could face up to 10 years in prison or substantial fines, with sentencing to be decided by a Federal district judge.
According to a 10-page affidavit filed on October 13 by Intelligence Analyst and FBI Special Agent Jeffery Scott, Tellis was apprehended on October 11. This followed a search and seizure operation at his home in Vienna, Virginia, conducted under a special warrant.
The affidavit reveals that investigators discovered over a thousand pages of documents marked “TOP SECRET” and/or “SECRET” throughout Tellis’s residence. It also noted his cooperation in the investigation, as he reportedly directed agents, provided keys, and unlocked his computer.
Furthermore, the affidavit meticulously outlines four separate instances in 2022, 2023, 2024, and on September 2, 2025, where Tellis reportedly met with officials from the People’s Republic of China (PRC) at various restaurants in Fairfax, Virginia. These details strongly suggest that Tellis had been under continuous surveillance for at least three years. The document also highlights his login to a secure U.S. Department of Defense computer on September 12, 2025, and the subsequent printing of numerous sensitive and classified documents, including one related to a U.S. fighter aircraft. It confirms that, in his roles as an unpaid Senior Advisor at the Department of State and a contractor in the Office of Net Assessment within the Department of Defense, Tellis held “Top Secret security clearance with access to Sensitive Compartmented Information (SCI).”
The Hindu reached out to several experts, some of whom considered Tellis a “close friend,” and they collectively voiced astonishment regarding the initial discovery of classified documents at his Washington D.C.-area residence. The accusations of his contact with Chinese officials, including a notable meeting on September 15, 2022, where he allegedly carried documents in a “manila envelope” and received a “red gift bag,” have drawn particular attention. This is especially striking given Tellis’s public stance in articles and speeches, where he consistently advocated for stronger India-U.S. ties as a strategic measure to counter China’s growing influence.
Born in Mumbai, Tellis earned his doctorate from the University of Chicago after graduating from St. Xavier’s College. He later joined the U.S. government, becoming Special Assistant to Ambassador Robert Blackwill. Former colleagues at the U.S. Embassy in Delhi recall his instrumental role, as Senior Advisor to Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs R. Nicholas Burns, in finalizing the landmark nuclear deal during President George W. Bush’s 2006 visit to Delhi. In more recent years, Tellis authored several opinion pieces that occasionally drew criticism from New Delhi. These writings often advocated for India to increase its defense purchases, including an aircraft carrier, from the U.S., urged a departure from India’s “non-alignment” policy, critiqued India’s “democratic decline,” and, in his latest essay, even questioned the validity of India’s “great power delusions.”
Reacting to the news, Amit Malviya, in-charge of the BJP’s National Information and Technology Department, suggested that the arrest sheds light on why Tellis had “spoken so frequently and harshly” against the Indian government.
Following the news of his arrest, several think tanks in both the U.S. and India, which had previously featured Tellis as a speaker or researcher, swiftly removed his profile from their expert listings. The Asia Group, where he served as a Special Advisor on its South Asia Team since 2020, confirmed the termination of his contract on Tuesday, October 14, 2025. Tellis continues to hold the Tata Chair for Strategic Affairs and remains a Senior Fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, which has yet to release an official statement on the matter.
Both India’s Ministry of External Affairs and the U.S. Embassy in Delhi have declined to comment, with the latter citing a policy of not discussing “ongoing investigations.”