Meet India’s second most powerful man after PM Modi-Ajit Doval, who once disguised himself as a rickshaw driver and fooled militants

When Prime Minister Narendra Modi appointed Ajit Doval as India’s National Security Adviser, he was well-aware about Doval’s capabilities and glorious past record.

Doval, who shapes India’s foreign policy and is considered the second most powerful man after Modi, is the man in-charge of talks with rival Pakistan. Doval also visits arms manufacturers to discuss strategic capabilities, and orchestrates the response to militant attacks. He everyday liaisons with India’s Foreign Secretary S. Jaishankar, the nation's top diplomat.

Bloomberg, in a report, said since Doval assumed the charge as National Security Adviser, he has supported a nationalist agenda while adopting a tougher line against hostile neighbours. That has growing economic ramifications as China funds a $45 billion trade corridor through Pakistan that bypasses India and as both China and India eye resource-rich neighbors in central Asia like Afghanistan.

And why not? Doval, handpicked by Modi, has all the knowledge and has been on the field and tested hostile waters.

As per Bloomberg’s report, Doval spent seven years undercover in Pakistan, recruited rebels as informants in disputed Kashmir, and once disguised himself as a rickshaw driver to infiltrate a militant group inside India's holiest Sikh temple.

After his appointment, Doval was sent to Afghanistan as special envoy and brought him on his first foreign trip to Bhutan. Doval is special representative in charge of talks with China over a disputed border as well.

“He's known as an Indian James Bond - he has this larger than life persona. There are tales and stories and legends attached to him that are very unusual in a national security advisor," Sadanand Dhume, a fellow at the American Enterprise Institute in Washington, told Bloomberg.
In 1988, a military operation had flushed Sikh separatists from the Golden Temple in Amritsar.

Karan Kharb, a retired army officer who was one of the National Security Guard commandos involved, told Bloomberg that Doval posed as a rickshaw puller to gain entry to the temple. He convinced the militants holed up inside he was a Pakistani operative who'd come to help them in their goal of establishing an independent country called Khalistan.

"Generally, in India, people are very particular, they're sticklers to the rules. Doval sees the spirit in the rule. That's where he's different. He's very innovative and an out-of-the-box thinker," said Kharb.

However, despite all his accolades, Doval's influence with Modi has drawn criticism too.

AAP leader Ashutosh had once tweeted: "The country wants to know who is running foreign policy? A spy called Doval or diplomats?" when Modi flew to Lahore to meet Pakistan counterpart Nawaz Sharif in a surprise visit.

"The best experts on how to deal with terrorism, how to think about diplomacy and foreign affairs - they are not being consulted. Doval's job is strategy, not tactics,” Congress Vice-President Rahul Gandhi has said when Home Minister Rajnath Singh suffered a politically embarrassing trip to Pakistan in August that Doval pulled out of at the last minute.

"Doval wields more influence than previous national security advisers in part because of his credibility and experience in intelligence and security matters," Sameer Patil, who served in the prime minister's national security council secretariat under the previous Congress government, told Bloomberg.