Doval’s influence, to what avail?

Terrorism is a big issue for any government in India now and the Modi government is no exception. A crisis management meeting was recently summoned by the government. Usually, such meetings are held in South Block but this time the meeting was organised in North Block. It was presided over by Home Minister Rajnath Singh, attended by National Security Adviser Ajit Doval and the BSF Chief, Defence Secretary and Foreign Secretary. The meeting was run by Doval, who was giving voice to instructions from the PMO. The duty of briefing the media after the meeting was handed to Modi’s favourite, Foreign Secretary S Jaishankar. The extent of Doval’s influence and grip is now well-known in the government, but the PMO is yet to give him the rank of a state minister, a status enjoyed by Brijesh Mishra, one of the most powerful Security Advisors we have had.