The former Intelligence Bureau chief, Ajit Kumar Doval, is tipped to be the country’s new National Security Adviser (NSA), senior officials told The Hindu .
Mr. Doval, a 1968-batch, Kerala-cadre IPS officer, is director of the New Delhi-based think-tank Vivekananda International Foundation.
Officials said papers for Mr. Doval’s appointment had already been moved. His is likely to be one of the first key appointments of the Narendra Modi government.
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Mr. Doval, who cut his teeth in the Mizo conflict, worked in the Indian mission in Pakistan from 1983 to 1987. He was one of the key negotiators during the hijacking of an Indian Airlines aircraft to Kandahar in 1999.
It appears that Mr. Modi’s administration is keen to appoint a serving or retired diplomat as Deputy National Security Adviser. A senior Ambassador in a key Western nation approached for the post, however, declined the offer.
The new NSA will be part of the Indian delegation in the new Prime Minister’s meetings with Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa on Tuesday.
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