India, Oct. 15 -- Ashley Tellis, a well-known US scholar on India who advised the US government, was arrested and charged with retaining classified information and allegedly met Chinese officials, prosecutors said on Tuesday, HT reported earlier.

Ashley Tellis, 64, was born in India and is now a naturalised US citizen, who has served as an adviser to the state department since 200. He has served on the National Security Council of former Republican President George W Bush and is listed in an FBI court affidavit as an unpaid adviser to the state department and a Pentagon contractor.

Tellis is widely considered one of America's most prominent experts on India and played a key role in the US-India civil nuclear deal talks in the mid-2000s....