Ajit Doval is the 5th and current National Security Advisor (NSA) to the Prime Minister of India, with the precedence equivalent to Cabinet Minister. He is affectionately known as ‘The James Bond of India’ and previously served as the Director of the Intelligence Bureau (IB) from 2004 to 2005. He is a retired officer of IPS cadre.
He previously served as the Director of the Intelligence Bureau in 2004–05, after spending a decade as the chief of its operations wing. He is a retired police officer of the Indian Police Service.
Ajit Doval Biography & Wiki
| Ajit Doval Full Name | Ajit Kumar Doval |
| Profession | Civil Servant |
| Physical Stat | |
| Ajit Doval Height | In Centimeter- 163 cm In Meter- 1.63 m In Feet- 5’4” |
| Weight | In Kilogram- 70 kg In Pound- 154 lbs |
| Eye Color | Black |
| Hair Color | Black |
| Personal Life | |
| Date Of Birth | 20 January 1945 |
| Ajit Doval Age (2022) | 77 Years |
| Birthplace | Giri Banelsun village, Pauri Garhwal, United Provinces, British India, (Now Uttarakhand) |
| Zodiac Sign/Sun Sign | Aquarius |
| Nationality | Indian |
| Home town | Pauri Garhwal, Uttarakhand, India |
| School | King George’s Royal Indian Military School (now known as Ajmer Military School) in Ajmer, Rajasthan. |
| College/University | Agra University, Lucknow, India National Defence Collge, New Delhi |
| Religion | Hinduism |
| Food Habit | Non-vegetarian |
| Family Member | |
| Marital Status | Married |
| Ajit Doval Wife | Anu Doval |
| Children | Son- 2 Shaurya Doval (Diplomat), Vivek Doval (Chartered Financial Analyst) |
| Parents | Father- Gunanand Doval (Army Officer) Mother- Name Not Known |
| Income | |
| Ajit Doval Salary | ₹ 1,62,500 per month |
Family, Early Life and Education
Ajit Kumar Doval was born on 20 January 1945 in a Garhwali family in Giri Banelsun village of Pauri Garhwal. His father Major GN Doval was an officer in the Indian Army.
Ajit Doval did his schooling from King George’s Royal Indian Military School (now known as Ajmer Military School) in Ajmer, Rajasthan.
In 1967, he obtained a master’s degree in economics from Agra University. In December 2017, Doval was awarded an honorary doctorate in science from Agra University.
In May 2018, he received an honorary doctorate in literature from Kumaun University. In November 2018, he received an honorary doctorate in philosophy from Amity University.
He is married to Anu Doval and has two sons, Vivek Doval and Shaurya Doval. Vivek Doval is a Chartered Financial Analyst, a British national living in Singapore. Shaurya Doval is an Indian diplomat.
Ajit Doval Career
As a Police Officer
- Ajit Kumar Doval started his career as a police officer in 1968 as an IPS officer in Kerala. He played an important role in the anti-terrorist operation in the states of Punjab and Mizoram.
- In 1999, Doval was instrumental in negotiations for the release of IC-814 passengers in Kandahar, Afghanistan, which was under Taliban control.
- The hostage crisis ended only after India released three activists (Mushtaq Ahmed Zargar, Ahmed Omar Saeed Sheikh and Maulana Masood Azhar).
- Doval also spent seven years in Pakistan as a secret agent for India. He disguised himself as a Muslim in Pakistan and transmitted important information to India during his stay in Pakistan.
- In 1990, he was sent to Kashmir and convinced activists like Kuka Pare to rebel against anti-India terrorists. His persuasion of Kuka Pare paved the way for the 1996 state elections in Jammu and Kashmir.
- Doval is responsible for capturing six of Laldenga’s seven commanders during the “Mizo National Front (MNF) rebellion”, which aimed to create a sovereign state for the Mizos. He also spent a lot of time in Burma and Chinese territory. He helped to merge the state of Sikkim with India.
- Ajit played a key role in rescuing the Romanian diplomat Liviu Radu who was captured by the “Khalistan Liberation Force” (KLF). The capture was done as a retaliation against the arrest of members of the KLF, prime suspects in the attempted assassination of India’s ambassador to Romania, Julio Francis Ribeiro. Doval participated in Operation Black Thunder in Punjab.
- After his stay in Jammu and Kashmir, he was appointed a minister in the Indian High Commission in London.
After Retirement
In January 2005, he retired as the Director of the Intelligence Bureau. However, even after his retirement, he was actively involved in matters relating to the national security of India. He founded the Vivekananda International Foundation in December 2009.
As a National Security Advisor (NSA)
- After his retirement, Doval was appointed as India’s fifth National Security Advisor on May 30, 2014. In July 2014, he ensured the safe return of 46 Indian nurses stuck in a hospital in Tikrit, Iraq.
- On 25 June 2014, Ajit Doval flew to Iraq on a top secret mission and held high level meetings with the Iraqi government.
- After Doval’s meeting on 5 July, ISIL terrorists handed over all Indian nurses to Kurdish authorities in the city of Erbil. A specially arranged Air India plane brought the nurses back to Kochi, India.
- According to Indian officials, Ajit Doval planned a cross-border military operation with Army Chief General Dalbir Singh Suhag against the Myanmar-based Nationalist Socialist Council of Nagaland (NSCN-K).
- The Indian side claims that the operation was successful and 20-38 separatists were killed in the operation conducted by India. However, the Myanmar government denied such claims and said that the Indian action against the NSCN-K took place entirely on the Indian side of the border. Apart from this, NSCN-K also denied India’s claim.
- He is popularly known for his principled change in Indian national security policy with respect to Pakistan. According to reports, the Indian attack in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir in 2016 was his brainchild.
- He has also resolved the Doklam standoff through his diplomatic relations with the then Foreign Secretary S Jaishankar and Indian Ambassador to China Vijay Keshav Gokhale.
- In October 2018, Ajit Doval was appointed as the chairman of the SPG (Strategic Policy Group).
- On February 27, 2019, Tension escalated between India and Pakistan after IAF air strikes in Pakistan and subsequent retaliatory airstrikes in India and capture of Indian pilot Abinandan Varthaman by Pakistan Army.
- The pilot was released by the Pakistani army as a sign of peace and to defuse tensions between the two countries.
- According to Indian officials, when the Indian pilot was in Pakistan’s custody, Ajit Doval held talks with the US Secretary of State and the National Security Advisor to ensure the release of the Indian pilot.
- On 3 June 2019, Ajit Doval was reappointed as the NSA for the next 5 years. On May 15, 2020, Myanmar army handed over a group of 22 insurgents, who were operating in the northeastern states of India, to the Indian government in a special aircraft.
Awards and Honours
- Ajit Doval was the youngest police officer to receive the Police Medal for his meritorious service. He received this award after completing his 6 years of service in the police.
- Ajit Doval was awarded the President’s Police Medal.
- In 1998 he was awarded the highest gallantry award- Kirti Chakra. He was the first police officer to receive this award, which was earlier given as a military honour.