Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi has appointed Samant Goel, considered to be the ‘brain behind Balakot strikes’, as the next chief of India’s external spy agency, Research and Analysis Wing (R&AW).
Modi also appointed Arvinda Kumar, who is considered a ‘Kashmir expert’ as the Director, Intelligence Bureau.
According to a report by the Hindustan Times, the two officers will take over this month-end when the extended tenure of IB chief Rajiv Jain and R&AW secretary Anil K Dhasmana ends. Jain and Dhasmana were appointed in December 2016 and were given a six-month extension as the country moved into election mode.
Goel heads operations for the external intelligence agency.
The senior police officer was instrumental in planning the February 2019 Balakot air strikes and the 2016 surgical strikes carried out after the terror attack at Uri brigade, the two strikes that have defined the NDA government’s approach to counter terror emanating from the neighbouring country.
Goel has handled Punjab militancy at its peak in the 1990s and is a Pakistan expert. A mild-mannered police officer, Samant Goel has impeccable integrity, said a senior R&AW officer.
Arvind Kumar has been closely involved in tackling left-wing extremism at the Intelligence Bureau. The special director-rank officer is also the intelligence agency’s Kashmir expert and has been closely involved in formulating and executing the Centre’s approach on terrorism in the valley.
