New delhi : Ajit Doval has been granted cabinet status and five more years as the National Security Adviser (NSA). "He has been given cabinet rank in recognition of his contribution in the national security domain," news agency ANI reported.
"He has been given cabinet rank in recognition of his contribution in the national security domain," it said.
There had been much speculation about Ajit Doval after Prime Minister Narendra Modi took oath for the second time last week, with his longtime aide Amit Shah as the new Home Minister and former Home Minister Rajnath Singh moving to Defence.
Doval joined the IPS in 1968 in the Kerala cadre. He was actively involved in anti-insurgency operations in Mizoram and Punjab .
Doval was one of three negotiators who negotiated the release of passengers from IC-814 in Kandahar in 1999. Uniquely, he has the experience of being involved in the termination of all 15 hijackings of Indian Airlines aircraft from 1971–1999. In the headquarters, he headed IB's operations wing for over a decade and was founder Chairman of the Multi Agency Centre , as well as of the Joint Task Force on Intelligence .
2014 Doval was appointed as India's fifth National Security Advisor. In June 2014, Doval played a crucial role in ensuring the secure return of 46 Indian nurses who were trapped in a hospital in Tikrit, Iraq. After family members lost all contact from these nurses, following the capture of Mosul by ISIL. Doval, on a top secret mission flew to Iraq on 25 June 2014 to understand the position on the ground and make high-level contacts in the Iraqi government.
Doval under whoes supervision the 2016 surgical strikes after Uri terrorist attack and the 2019 Balakot surgical tooks place, eas appointed as NSA in 2014.
He is the first police officer to receive Kirti Chakra in 1988.