The acclaimed bureaucrat, Ajit Doval is a retired IPS officer of 1968 batch and current National Security Advisor (NSA) to PM of India. Doval has successfully dealt with insurgency issues in frontier states like Kashmir and North East and he is the man behind URI strike and Kandhar rescue operation.
The Rise of Powerful Bureaucrat, Ajit Doval
Ajit Doval, born at Pauri Garhwal in the erstwhile United Provinces, now in Uttarakhand. He, although, grew up in Ajmer, Rajasthan. His father was an officer in the Indian Army. After finishing his graduation at Agra University, he joined the IPS in 1968 from the Kerala cadre. He gained experience in anti-insurgency activities throughout Mizoram and Punjab and undercover missions. In 1999, Doval was a participant in the 1999 Mizoram and Punjab undercover operations. Doval was one of those who negotiated the liberation of passengers of a hijacked Indian Airlines flight IC-814 in Kandahar. He was named director of the IB. In 2005, when he retired from the IPS, Doval retreated to his private life. After his retirement, he often contributed to national security discussions through talks and commentaries. When Modi came to power in 2014, the former spymaster was reintroduced to the government as the fifth National Security Advisor (NSA).
His Career as National Security Advisor-
(a) He was also involved in the military operation against militants operating out of Myanmar. Doval, along with the Army Chief General Dalbir Singh Suhag, headed a successful military operation against the National Socialist Council of Nagaland militants operating out of Myanmar. Indian officials claimed that the mission had been successfully ended and killed 20-38 separatists of NSCN-K.
(b) He was credited along with foreign secretary S. Jaishankar and Indian Ambassador to China Vijay Keshav Gokhale for resolving the Doklam standoff and took decisive decisions to tackle the insurgents in North-East.
(c) In October of 2018, he was appointed as the chairman of the Strategic Policy Group (SPG), the initial level of a three-tier structure within the National Security Council and serves as the central point of its decision-making machinery.
(d) Ajit Doval is credited with the successful conceptualizing of the Indian Surgical Strike in URI.
(e) He also had a hand in the IAF airstrike on JeM camp in Balakot to avenge the Pulwama attack.
In the year 2019, Doval was reappointed as National Security Advisor for five more years. And, he has been given a Cabinet rank in the second term of the Narendra Modi-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government.