Ajit Doval

Ajit Kumar Doval, KC (born 20 January 1945) is an Indian bureaucrat and spymaster, who is currently serving as the National Security Advisor of India since 2014. A retired Indian Police Service officer of the Kerala cadre, he had previously served as Director of the Intelligence Bureau in 2004–05, after heading its operations wing for a decade.

He founded the Vivekananda International Foundation in 2009, which he headed until his appointment as NSA.

Ajit Doval is currently enjoying third five-year extension of his tenure as National Security Advisor of India, making Doval longest serving NSA of India.

Early life and education

Doval was born in 1945 in Ghiri Banelsyun village in Pauri Garhwal in the erstwhile United Provinces, now in Uttarakhand. Doval's father, Major G. N. Doval, was an officer in the Indian Army.

He received his early education at the Ajmer Military School in Ajmer, Rajasthan. He graduated with a master's degree in economics from the Agra University in 1967.

Police and intelligence career

Doval joined the Indian Police Service (IPS) in 1968 in the Kerala cadre as the Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) of Kottayam district.

Doval worked in Thalassery, Kerala, for a few months in 1972, before joining the central service. He has the experience of being involved in the termination of all 15 hijackings of Indian Airlines aircraft from 1971 to 1999. In the headquarters, he headed IB's operations wing for over a decade and was founder Chairman of the Multi Agency Centre (MAC), as well as of the Joint Task Force on Intelligence (JTFI).

In 1988 during Operation Black Thunder, he infiltrated in Golden temple posing as an ISI agent, did espionage on Khalistani separatists, Doval gathered information about their weapons and made maps of their positions, he became an important member in their group gave wrong advices to them to sabotage, which helped during Operation Bluestar.

He played a role in intelligence for Sikkim's merger with India. He was trained under M. K. Narayanan, the third National Security Advisor of India for a brief period in counterterrorism operations. He was part of the team which was sent to Kandahar, Afghanistan for negotiations to release passengers of hijacked aeroplane IC-814.

He was later appointed on the post of director of the Intelligence Bureau.

Post-retirement (2005–2014)

Doval retired in January 2005 as Director, Intelligence Bureau. In December 2009, he became the founding Director of the Vivekananda International Foundation (VIF), a public policy think tank set up by the Vivekananda Kendra. Doval has remained actively involved in the discourse on national security in India. Besides writing editorial pieces for several leading newspapers and journals, he has delivered lectures on India's security challenges and foreign policy objectives at several renowned government and non-governmental institutions, security think-tanks in India and abroad.

In 2009 and 2012 he co-wrote two reports on "Indian Black Money Abroad in Secret Banks and Tax Havens", with others, leading in the field as a part of the task force constituted by Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

In 2012, IB eyed on him due to then ruling party Congress's suspicions on Doval and his think tank VIF with the doubts that he and VIF were the brains behind Ramdev and Anna Hazare led anti-corruption movement, which generated anger against government.

In recent years, he has delivered guest lectures on strategic issues at IISS, London, Capitol Hill, Washington DC, Australia-India Institute, University of Melbourne, National Defence College, New Delhi and the Lal Bahadur Shastri National Academy of Administration, Mussoorie. Doval has also spoken internationally at global events, citing the ever-increasing need of co-operation between the major established and emerging powers of the world.

National Security Advisor (2014–present)

On 30 May 2014, Doval was appointed as India's fifth National Security Advisor. In June 2014, Doval facilitated the return of 46 Indian nurses who were trapped in a hospital in Tikrit, Iraq, following the capture of Mosul by ISIL. Doval, flew to Iraq on 25 June 2014 to understand the position on the ground and make high-level contacts in the Iraqi government. Although the exact circumstances of their release are unclear, on 5 July 2014, ISIL militants handed the nurses to Kurdish authorities at Erbil city and an Air India plane specially-arranged by the Indian government brought them back home to Kochi.

Along with Army Chief General Dalbir Singh Suhag, Doval planned a cross-border military operation against National Socialist Council of Nagaland (NSCN-K) separatists operating out of Myanmar. Indian officials claimed that the mission was a success and 20–38 separatist belonging to Nationalist Socialist Council of Nagaland (NSCN-K) were killed in the operation. However, the Myanmar government denied the strikes. According to Myanmar officials, the Indian operation against NSCN-K took place entirely on the Indian side of the border.

He is widely credited for the doctrinal shift in Indian national security policy in relation to Pakistan. It was speculated that the September 2016 Indian strikes in Pakistan-controlled Kashmir were his brainchild. Doval is widely credited along with then Foreign Secretary S. Jaishankar and Indian Ambassador to China Vijay Keshav Gokhale, for resolving Doklam Standoff through diplomatic channels and negotiations.

In October 2018, he was appointed as the Chairman of the Strategic Policy Group (SPG), which is the first tier of a three-tier structure at the National Security Council and forms the nucleus of its decision-making apparatus.

After Pakistan based terrorist attacked convoy of CRPF by car bomb in Pulwama which resulted in the deaths of 40 CRPF personnel,the Indian Air Force conducted an airstrike on alleged terrorist bases in Pakistan. Doval was one of the seven persons who knew about India's classified 2019 Balakot airstrike, including Indian Navy, Army, Airforce chiefs and prime minister Narendra Modi. Following the airstrike and retaliatory 2019 Jammu and Kashmir airstrikes and subsequent capture of Indian pilot Abhinandan Varthaman by Pakistani military, Ajit Doval held talks with US Secretary of State and National Security Advisor to secure the release of the Indian pilot.

On 3 June 2019, he was reappointed as NSA for another 5 years and granted the personal rank of a Cabinet Minister. Doval is the first NSA to hold such a rank. He is widely considered to be one of Modi's most powerful and trusted advisors, with major influence over India's national security and foreign affairs.

He was also an instrumental figure in revocation of the special status of Jammu and Kashmir.

On 26 February 2020, Ajit Doval walked the streets of riot-hit northeast Delhi to assess the situation and reassure the local residents.

On 15 May 2020, the military forces of Myanmar handed over a group of 22 militant leaders, active in Assam and other northeast states, to the Indian government. This was made possible through negotiations headed by Doval.

On 15 September 2020, Doval walked out of a virtual SCO meeting after Pakistan projected a fictitious map omitting parts of India.

On 13 June 2024, Ajit Doval was granted third five-year extension for his tenure as National Security Advisor of India.

In the 2025 India–Pakistan conflict following the Pahalgam terror attack, National Security Advisor (NSA) Ajit Doval played a key role in formulating India’s strategic response. He coordinated Operation Sindoor, a series of precision airstrikes on terror camps located in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK). Indian officials described the operation as "measured and non-escalatory," aimed at neutralizing terrorist threats without provoking a broader conflict.

Awards and recognitions

* He has been awarded an honorary doctorate from Dr. Bhimrao Ambedkar University (formerly Agra University) in December 2017; Kumaun University in May 2018; and Amity University, in November 2018.
* Doval was the youngest police officer to receive the Police Medal for meritorious service. He was given the award after six years in the police force.
* Doval was later awarded the President's Police Medal.
* In 1988, Doval was granted one of the highest gallantry awards, the Kirti Chakra, becoming the first police officer to receive a medal previously given only as a military honour.

In media

* Doval appeared on Epic TV's show '' Adrishya,'' in which his success against Khalistani separatist during '' Operation Black Thunder'' was featured.
* In film '' Uri: The Surgical Strike'' (2019) his cinematic character was played by Paresh Rawal.

See also

* Ravindra Kaushik – spy of India.
* Bahirji Naik – spy of Chatrapati Shivaji Maharaj

References

Further reading

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Doval, Ajit
1945 births
Directors of Intelligence Bureau (India)
Garhwali people
Indian Police Service officers
Indian spies
Living people
National Defence College, India alumni
National Security Advisor of India
People from Pauri Garhwal district
People from Uttarakhand
Recipients of the Kirti Chakra
Spymasters
University of Madras alumni