Washington: Kash Patel, the US Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Director, on Friday extended his felicitations to India as it marked its 79th Independence Day, sharing on social media moments from Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Red Fort address.

In February, the Senate confirmed Kashyap Pramod Vinod Patel, 44, as the ninth FBI Director, making him the first American of Indian descent to lead the storied agency. His parents, Gujarati by origin, had traversed continents—Uganda to Canada, then to the US—to escape turmoil. Raised in New York, Patel studied law and began as a public defender before rising meteorically in Washington, serving in Trump’s Pentagon and as Deputy Director of National Intelligence.

Only last month, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar met Patel in Washington, lauding Indo-US collaboration against crime, drugs, and terrorism. Earlier, Patel had condemned the Pahalgam terror strike, vowing unflinching FBI support to India’s fight. “This is a reminder of the eternal shadow of terrorism,” he said, offering condolences to victims and saluting law enforcers.

—Bureau reports