National Security Advisor Ajit Doval to Lead India’s First International Intel Chiefs Meet 

National Security Advisor in Conference – Unlike the Munich Conference, which is a widely publicized event, the conference to be held in Delhi on 24 April has been kept a secret.

National Security Advisor Ajit Doval will lead discussions at India’s first meeting of intelligence agency chiefs, which will also be held in Delhi on April 24th, 2022, two days before the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) begins its annual Raisina Dialogue. 

The meeting, which will be held after the annual Munich Security Conference and Singapore’s Shangri-La discussion, is scheduled to bring together leaders and deputy heads of leading intelligence and security organizations from more than 20 nations and their allies, largely from Western countries.

The meeting is scheduled to draw intelligence heads and deputies from Australia, Germany, Israel, Singapore, Japan, and New Zealand.

The conference is being organized by the Research and Analysis Wing (R&AW), the country’s external intelligence agency, and the National Security Council Secretariat (NSCS).

Reporting to National Security Adviser (NSA) Ajit Doval, according to officials. Mr. Doval will be in charge of the conference and will meet with spy chiefs and representatives from several countries. 

The NSCS conference comes just before the MEA’s “flagship conference on geopolitics and geo-economics,” the Raisina dialogue, held annually since 2016, kicks off on Tuesday. 

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will inaugurate the hybrid conference, and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen will be the chief guest. 

The Foreign Ministers of Argentina, Armenia, Australia, Guyana, Nigeria, Norway, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Madagascar, the Netherlands, the Philippines, Poland, Portugal, and Slovenia, as well as about 200 speakers from 90 countries and multilateral organizations, are expected to attend, according to the MEA. According to government authorities, the two conferences are unrelated in any manner. 

According to officials, the conference was not intended to be a “meet and greet,” but rather a “continuous” plan to connect the agencies.

Following each session, participants and specialists in each area of intelligence operations will engage in deep discussions. 

The intelligence chief’s meeting on Sunday, like the Raisina conversation, will be dominated by the crisis in Ukraine, the impact of Russian strikes on Ukrainian cities, and Western measures and sanctions against Russia.

The conference’s subject is based on the annual Munich Security Conference, which brings together senior intelligence officials, diplomats, and ministers from more than 70 nations to address current and future security concerns in Germany.  

The conference has been kept under wraps, unlike the Munich conference, which is a well-publicized event.

When asked about the meeting’s agenda, senior government officials did not return messages, and numerous embassies in Delhi claimed they couldn’t “confirm or deny” their security and intelligence heads’ trip plans. 

Edited by – Vanshika Sahu

Published by – Mohd Faizan