Ajit Kumar Doval is a retired Indian Police Service (IPS) police officer and the fifth National Security Advisor to the Prime Minister of India. Ajit previously served as national security adviser and also served as India’s spy in Pakistan for seven years.
Wiki/Biography
Ajit Doval was born on January 20, 1945 (age 79; age as of 2024) in Ghiri Banelsyun, Pauri Garhwal, United Provinces, British India (now in the Indian state of Uttarakhand). He attended King George’s Royal Indian Military School (Ajmer Military School) in Ajmer, Rajasthan. In 1967, Doval received a master’s degree in economics from Agra University.
In 1968, he was selected as an IPS officer from the Kerala cadre. He is known for his active involvement in counter-insurgency planning in Punjab and Mizoram. During his tenure, the 2016 Indian Line of Control attack and the 2019 Balakot airstrike were carried out on September 29, 2016 and February 26, 2019 respectively. Ajit Doval was trained under MK Narayanan, a former IPS officer and India’s third National Security Adviser.
3rd National Security Advisor – MK Narayanan
family and caste
Ajit Doval was born into a Brahmin family, his father Gunanad Doval was a soldier. He is married to Anu Doval and has two sons: Vivek Doval and Shaurya Doval.
Vivek Doval is a CFA charterholder, a British citizen and resident in Singapore. Shaurya Doval is an Indian diplomat.
Ajit Doval with his sons Vivek Doval (left) and Shaurya Doval (right)
Profession
Ajit Kumar Doval started his police career in 1968 as an IPS officer of the Kerala cadre. He played a key role in counter-insurgency operations in Punjab and Mizoram. In 1999, Doval played an important role in negotiating the release of the passengers of IC-814 flight from Kandahar, Afghanistan, an area then controlled by the Taliban. The hostage crisis came about after India released three militants – Mushtaq Ahmed Zagar, Ahmed Omar Saeed Sheikh and Maulana Masood Azhar Finish.
Taliban militants in front of IC-814 hijacked in Kandahar
Notably, Doval was involved in terminating all 15 Air India plane hijackings between 1971 and 1999.
Ajit Doval has served as the head of the operations wing of the Intelligence Bureau (IB) for nearly a decade. In 2004-05 he was appointed Director of the International Bureau. He is the founder and chairman of the Multi-Agency Center (MAC) and the Joint Task Force on Intelligence (JTFI).
Doval was responsible for winning the support of six of the seven commanders in Ladenga during the Mizo National Front (MNF) insurgency that aimed at creating a sovereign state for Mizos. He spent considerable time on Burmese and Chinese soil. He helped merge the state of Sikkim with India.
Ajit played an important role in the rescue of Romanian diplomat Liviu Radu, who was captured by the Khalistan Liberation Army (KLF). The arrest was in retaliation for the arrest of KLF members who were prime suspects in the assassination of the then Indian Ambassador to Romania, Julio Francis Ribeiro. Doval participated in Operation Black Thunder in Punjab.
Romanian diplomat-Liviu Radu
Doval also served as an Indian undercover agent in Pakistan for seven years. He disguised himself as a Muslim in Pakistan and conveyed important messages to India while in Pakistan. In 1990, he was sent to Kashmir to convince militants such as Kukkar Pari to become counter-insurgents against anti-India terrorists. His act of persuading Kukkar Pari paved the way for the 1996 Jammu and Kashmir state elections.
Kuka Pale
After serving in Jammu and Kashmir, he was appointed Minister at the Indian High Commission in London.
In January 2005, he retired as director of the Intelligence Bureau. However, even after retirement, he remained actively involved in matters involving India’s national security. He founded the Vivekananda International Foundation in December 2009.
Vivekananda International Foundation
On May 30, 2014, Doval was appointed as India’s fifth National Security Advisor. He was responsible for the safe return of 46 Indian nurses trapped in a hospital in Tikrit, Iraq. He flew to Iraq on June 25, 2014, and spoke with senior Iraqi government officials. On July 5, 2014, the Indian nurse came back. He and Army Chief Dalbir Singh Suhag are also responsible for military operations against militants outside Myanmar.
Ajit Doval with Narendra Modi and Dalbir Singh Suhag (circled)
He was appointed Chairman of the Strategic Policy Group (SPG) in October 2018. The SPG constitutes the first level of the National Security Council’s three-level security system. On June 13, 2024, the Indian government reappointed him as National Security Advisor. Doval traveled to Russia in September 2024 to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin to discuss Prime Minister Modi’s visit to Ukraine and discussions with President Zelensky.
Ajit Doval with Vladimir Putin in Moscow
Awards
- The youngest police officer to receive the Police Medal
- Presidential Police Medal
- First police officer to receive Kirti Chakra
fact
- Ajit Doval is the youngest police officer to receive the Police Medal. It typically takes five and a half years for a police officer to become eligible for the medal.
- While he was living undercover as a Muslim in Pakistan, a white-bearded man identified him as a Hindu. Initially, Doval disagreed with the man’s views and said he had converted to Islam. In the end, he had to agree with the man because Doval had his ears pierced. The unknown man with a white beard later admitted that he was a Hindu and had to live like a Muslim after killing his entire family for religious reasons. He even took Doval to his house and showed him the idol of Lord Shiva.
- After retiring in January 2005, he wrote editorials for national newspapers and journals and delivered lectures on national security at well-known institutions. He also speaks at global events.
- In 1988, during Operation Black Thunder, Ajit Doval disguised himself as a rickshaw puller and entered the Golden Temple and returned with important information. He convinced the militants that he was an ISI agent.
Categories: Biography
Source: HIS Education