Ajit Doval To Continue As National Security Advisor, PK Mishra's Tenure Extended As Principal Secretary To PM

With PM Narendra Modi reappointing PK Mishra as Principal Secretary to PM and Ajit Doval as NSA, the two retired bureaucrats have become the longest-serving advisors to the Prime Minister.

Ajit Doval has been retained as the National Security Advisor in Prime Minister Narendra Modi's office, while Pramod Kumar Mishra will continue as Principal Secretary, the centre announced on Thursday. 

With PM Narendra Modi reappointing PK Mishra as Principal Secretary and Ajit Doval as NSA, the two bureaucrats have become the longest-serving advisors to the Prime Minister. 

The government order said that that the appointments will be co-terminus with the term of the Prime Minister or until further orders whichever is earlier.

Moreover, former IAS officers Amit Khare and Tarun Kapoor will also continue in their posts to advisers to the prime minister.

Ajit Doval's appointment will be co-terminus with the term of Prime Minister Narendra Modi or until further orders, a government order said.

"The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet has approved the appointment of Ajit Doval, IPS (Retired) as National Security Adviser with effect from 10.06.2024," the order issued by the Personnel Ministry said.

During the term of his office, both Doval and Mishra will be assigned the rank of Cabinet Minister in the Table of Precedence and terms and conditions of their appointment will be notified separately. 

Ajit Doval became NSA for the first time in May 2014 soon after PM Modi assumed office in his first term. Doval, a 1968 batch IPS officer, is a renowned counter-terrorism expert and an expert on nuclear issues. He has served in Punjab as IB's operational chief and retired as Intelligence Bureau (IB) chief in 2005.

He was appointed as the NSA for the first time on May 30, 2014, and re-appointed for another five-year term on May 31, 2019.During his first tenure, Doval is believed to have played a pivotal role in the surgical strikes on terror launch pads in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir after the Uri terror attack.

He has worked with the IB for more than 33 years in different roles and in areas including the Northeast, Jammu and Kashmir, Sikkim and Punjab.

PK Mishra was appointed as Principal Secretary to the Prime Minister of India in 2019. Mishra has served as the Principal Secretary in the Chief Minister’s Office in 2001, when Narendra Modi had took over as Gujarat CM.

He also served as additional principal secretary in the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) in Modi's first term as the Prime Minister from 2014 to 2019.