From covert assignments and troubled frontiers to Doklam diplomacy, India’s longest-serving National Security Advisor receives prestigious honour in Pune.
New Delhi, August 1: One of the most powerful figures behind India’s national security architecture stepped into the spotlight on Saturday as Union Home Minister Amit Shah presented the Lokmanya Tilak National Award to National Security Advisor Ajit Doval in Pune.
The Tilak Smarak Trust selected the 81-year-old Doval for his significant contribution to national security, honouring a career that has stretched across some of the most sensitive chapters of modern India.
Doval is no ordinary bureaucrat.
From assignments involving Mizoram, Sikkim, Punjab and Jammu and Kashmir to diplomatic postings in Islamabad and London, his career has placed him repeatedly at the intersection of intelligence, insurgency, diplomacy and national strategy.
Today, he is India’s longest-serving National Security Advisor.
Doval has also served as India’s Special Representative for the India-China boundary talks and has been credited with playing an important role in diplomatic efforts surrounding the resolution of the 2017 Doklam standoff, when Indian and Chinese troops faced each other for more than two months.
Saturday’s honour carries formidable historical symbolism.
Instituted in 1983, the Lokmanya Tilak National Award is presented every August 1, the death anniversary of freedom fighter Bal Gangadhar Tilak, to individuals recognised for exceptional contributions to India’s progress and development.
Its roll of honour includes Indira Gandhi, Atal Bihari Vajpayee, Manmohan Singh, Pranab Mukherjee, Sharad Pawar and Narendra Modi.
During his Pune visit, Shah also paid tribute to legendary Marathi folk poet, writer and social reformer Annabhau Sathe on his birth anniversary.
But Saturday’s defining image was unmistakable:
India’s Home Minister honouring the man who, for years, has operated at the nerve centre of India’s security establishment.
JANPATH NEWS NETWORK (JNN)
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