The Union Government today appointed Ajit Doval as the National Security Advisor (NSA).
Doval succeeds Shivshankar Menon who served as the National Security Advisor of former prime minister Dr.Manmohan Singh from 17 January 2010 till 28 May 2014.
Doval, 69, is a former head of the Intelligence Bureau. He is an IPS officer of the 1968 batch from the Kerala cadre. He was the first police officer to be awarded the Kirti Chakra, a military medal awarded for valour for courageous action away from the field of battle.
According to media reports Doval has served in the Indian mission in Pakistan for six years and was a key member of the Indian team that negotiated with Pakistani terrorists who hijacked an Indian Airlines flight to Kandahar in 1999. Doval's role in combating militants and terrorists in Mizoram, Punjab and Jammu and Kashmir is legendary among intelligence circles.
Other notable laurels under his belt which are equally remembered are of leading a rescue operation of Romanian diplomat Liviu Radu after he was kidnapped by Sikh terrorists in 1991. He was also involved in Operation Black Thunder which was carried out to flush out militants from the Golden Temple.
Media reports say that he also headed the Multi Agency Centre and Joint Task Force on Intelligence before retiring from service in January 2005.Before taking up the post of NSA, Doval was the director of the Vivekananda International Foundation, a think tank. He also wrote for newspapers and delivered lectures on security and foreign policy issues.
