The government on Monday appointed National Security Advisor Ajit Doval to a second term, and provided him a Cabinet rank, ANI reported. Doval earlier held the rank of a minister of state.
The agency said Doval has been reappointed to the post in recognition of his contribution to the national security domain. He will have a term of five years.
Doval oversaw the Balakot air strike after the Pulwama terror attack in February, and the 2016 surgical strikes following the Uri attack.
The 1968-batch Indian Police Service officer has also been a former Intelligence Bureau chief. He was involved in anti-insurgency operations in Mizoram and Punjab and was one of the three Indian officials who negotiated the release of passengers from the hijacked IC-814 aircraft in Kandahar in 1999.
Doval has been part of some controversies of late. The CBI had in March rejected allegations that it had illegally tapped the phones of Doval and CBI’s former special director Rakesh Asthana. The agency was responding to a petition in the Delhi High Court that sought an investigation into the alleged phone tapping.
The same month, the national security advisor had praised the Narendra Modi-led government, saying the country’s leadership has both the capability and courage to decide when and how to respond to acts of terrorism. He was referring to the Pulwama attack and the subsequent Indian Air Force operations in Balakot.
In October 2018, Doval had said that India needs a “strong, stable and decisive government” for the next 10 years.
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