The Narendra Modi government in its second term has re-appointed Ajit Doval as the National Security Advisor (NSA) for the next 5 years. Interestingly, his reappointment has been elevated to the cabinet rank. He was appointed as the NSA during the first term of Modi government with the rank of a state minister.
Doval’s Position At Par With Cabinet Ministers
This time his position will be at par with the other Union Ministers of the cabinet on the Cabinet Committee on security. It means that his status in the government will be equal to home minister Amit Shah, external affairs minister S. Jaishankar, defense minister Rajnath Singh, and finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman.
5 most important steps that India took under the leadership of NSA Ajit Doval:
1) Extradition of Chota Rajan
2) Surgical Strike in PoK
3) Extradition of Christian Michel
4) Air Strike on JeM, Balakot, Pakistan
5) Israel, UAE and France as close strategic partners.— Aditya Raj Kaul (@AdityaRajKaul) June 3, 2019
The government order says, “The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet has approved the appointment of Ajit Doval, IPS (Retired) as National Security Adviser with effect from 31.05.2019. His appointment will be co-terminus with the term of the Prime Minister or until further orders, whichever is earlier.”
The order further adds, “During the term of his office, he will be assigned the rank of Cabinet Minister in the Table of Precedence.” The influence of Doval on the security policy of the government in the last few years has been quite noticeable. His intelligent strategies and decisions have helped the country deal with the Jammu and Kashmir situation in the most appropriate manner.
Major Influence On India’s Ties With Neighboring Countries
Ajit Doval has been a major influence during India’s engagement with Pakistan and China and also when it comes to deepening ties with Arab nations including the United Arab Emirates, and Saudi Arabia.
A chill runs down the spine just reading it. Doval was 43 years old. I am not quite sure what madness is, but this comes pretty close. Utter and complete madness.
As someone remarked once: Operation Black Thunder was caught Doval, bowled Gill. https://t.co/E4tBIVJrlT pic.twitter.com/w1pgxULdPY
— Anand Ranganathan (@ARanganathan72) February 19, 2018
According to the head of the National Security Advisory Board dealing with internal and external security, defense, foreign affairs, science and technology, and economic affairs, P.S. Raghavan, “Doval as NSA is well-equipped to deal with national security as he has shown. He has brought a holistic approach to national security in our country.”
Know more about Ajit Doval, PM @narendramodi’s National Security Advisor NSA, upgraded from Minister of State to Cabinet rank in NDA govt.
Man behind many secret missions is no less than real time Indian James Bond !#AjitDoval pic.twitter.com/8fZUB6Sb13— Geetika Swami (@SwamiGeetika) June 3, 2019
Doval has been quite aptly described as a thorough and sharp person and for him, the biggest challenge will be to counter terrorism posed by Pakistan-based groups as well as scattered groups of the Islamic State.
