अजीत डोभाल Ajit Doval
Ajit Doval was born in Pauri Garhwal in 1945 and joined the Indian Police Service in 1968. He spent most of his career in the Intelligence Bureau and led it in 2004–05. He founded the Vivekananda International Foundation in 2009. He has been National Security Adviser since May 2014 and is now in his third term with Cabinet rank.
Curated by Nikhil Sharma: a Garhwali officer who spent three decades in the Intelligence Bureau and became India’s longest-serving National Security Adviser. He gave Indian strategy a phrase it still argues over: defensive offence.
- 1968 Joined the IPS: Kerala cadre. He moved to the Intelligence Bureau in 1972
- 1st Police officer with the Kirti Chakra: For Operation Black Thunder II at the Golden Temple in 1988
- 3 Terms as NSA: Appointed in 2014 and reappointed in 2019 and 2024
- 2009 Founded the VIF: Founding director of the Vivekananda International Foundation
The facts
- Born
- 20 January 1945 in Ghiri Banelsyun, Pauri Garhwal (now Uttarakhand) (Wikipedia: Ajit Doval)
- Education
- Ajmer Military School. BA and MA in economics from Agra University in 1967 (Wikipedia: Ajit Doval)
- Service
- 1968-batch IPS officer of the Kerala cadre. Joined the Intelligence Bureau in 1972 (DT Next: Ajit Doval appointed NSA for a third time (13 June 2024))
- Now
- National Security Adviser since May 2014. Third term from 10 June 2024 with the rank of Cabinet Minister (DT Next: Ajit Doval appointed NSA for a third time (13 June 2024))
- IB Director
- July 2004 to January 2005 (Wikipedia: Ajit Doval)
- Gallantry
- Kirti Chakra. The first police officer to receive it, for Operation Black Thunder II (The Tribune: India’s longest-serving NSA turns 80 (January 2025))
- Think tank
- Founding director of the Vivekananda International Foundation from December 2009 until 2014 (Wikipedia: Ajit Doval)
- China talks
- India’s Special Representative on the boundary question with China (News on AIR (18 December 2024))
- Honours
- Lokmanya Tilak National Award (2026). Honorary PhD from Rashtriya Raksha University (2026) (Drishti IAS: Lokmanya Tilak National Award 2026)
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