‘End of my career...’: NSA Doval recalls tense Sikkim mission when China captured Indian intelligence team
&imwidth=600&imheight=450&format=webp&quality=medium "‘End of my career...’: NSA Doval recalls tense Sikkim mission when China captured Indian intelligence team")
NSA Ajit Doval Photograph: (ANI)
NSA Ajit Doval has recalled a tense intelligence operation in Sikkim during its merger with India, saying a team he sent to the border was captured and interrogated by Chinese forces. The personnel were later returned after negotiations, while an inquiry found Doval was not at fault.
National Security Advisor (NSA) Ajit Doval on Saturday (Sep 19) recalled a tense intelligence operation along the Sikkim border during the state’s merger with India. He shared a fascinating story about how a team sent on a mission was captured by Chinese forces and failed to return for several days. NSA Doval was speaking at the convocation of the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Roorkee. Doval said he was a young IPS officer in his 20s when he was posted as the intelligence chief in Sikkim. He said his responsibilities included monitoring the border and gathering information on the activities of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA). But this incident made him feel that his career was over.
“I was a young IPS officer, new to the intelligence profession. I was in my 20s, and I was posted as in charge of intelligence in Sikkim. That was not a part of India at that time. It was becoming part of India. I was part of that process where the merger was taking place. But my responsibility also included looking after the border areas and collecting intelligence about the movement of the PLA, activities of the Chinese Army," the NSA said, ANI reported.
Doval recalled an intelligence team that was expected to return after around eight days but remained missing well beyond the deadline. “Once, we had an intelligence mission in the border area, and about eight days later, they had to return. So, five days went by, then ten days went by, then perhaps 15 days went by. For me, it was a matter of very great concern, not only professionally but also on the human side, that so many people we don’t know whether they are dead or alive, and what has happened to them," Doval added. He later learnt that the personnel had been taken into Chinese custody. “The Chinese returned them, probably after some talks or negotiations, or a deal must have been struck. So, they returned totally shattered, in shambles. And an inquiry was started. I knew that this was the end of my career. I was still in my twenties, and I had to start a new career. I saw the incident as something very unprofessional,” he said.
However, an inquiry eventually found him not at fault, with maps and sketches supplied by headquarters found to contain defects. Doval added, “Anyway, the inquiry was over. I wasn’t found at fault. Probably, I had done everything right. The sketches and the maps that were given to us by the headquarters had some defects and mistakes in them. That is how it happened…"
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