Ajit Doval Will Continue Serving as NSA; PK Mishra to Remain Principal Secretary to PM

New Delhi: Ajit Doval will continue to serve as national security adviser while P.K. Mishra will remain Prime Minister Modi's principal secretary, the government announced on Thursday (June 13).

Their appointments came into effect on Monday, the government said, adding that they will serve a term coterminous with the prime minister's or until “further orders”, whichever comes earlier.

Both will have the rank of cabinet minister.

Doval was director of the Intelligence Bureau, India's domestic intelligence wing, till 2005 and has been national security advisor since 2014.

He is also reportedly the first policeman to have received the Kirti Chakra, India's second-highest peacetime gallantry award.

P.K. Mishra became principal secretary to Modi in 2019. Some describe Mishra – who was appointed principal secretary in Gujarat chief minister Modi's office in 2001 – as Modi's “most trusted bureaucratic aide”.

Modi took oath as prime minister for the third time on Sunday, with his NDA bloc having won the general election.

Many ministers retained their portfolios on Monday, including those generally in the cabinet committee on security: Amit Shah (retaining home affairs), Rajnath Singh (defence), S. Jaishankar (external affairs) and Nirmala Sitharaman (finance).

The distribution of portfolios made it clear the top ministries will remain with the BJP, despite the fact that it has to rely on its NDA allies to govern. However, its allies have been accommodated with some key ministries.

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