NSA Ajit Doval, principal secretary P K Mishra get another term

PM Narendra Modi has retained his two trusted aides, national security adviser Ajit Doval and principal secretary P K Mishra, in his third term. Their reappointment with Cabinet rank was notified after the appointments committee of Cabinet cleared it and ended speculation over who would get the coveted and crucial jobs.
Modi also opted to give another term to two of his advisers in PMO, Amit Khare and Tarun Kapoor.
Coming after Modi kept his faith in the CCS team - home minister Amit Shah, defence minister Rajnath Singh, finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman and foreign minister S Jaishankar - renewed terms for Doval and Mishra are seen as the second important statement of continuity from him.
The reappointment of 79 year-old Doval for an unprecedented third term indicates his cruciality in Modi govt's response to different security challenges. A renewed term for Doval, who played a key role in planning and executing surgical and air strikes against terrorists inside Pakistan, is significant also because of a purported campaign, abroad as well as back home, to link him to the controversies over the alleged plot to kill pro-Khalistan separatist Gurpatwant Singh Pannun. The only IPS officer to have been awarded a Kirti Chakra and seen as the best “operations person” India has had, Doval played an important role also in evacuating Indian nationals from the war zones of Russia and Ukraine and other disaster-hit areas. Known for his extensive contacts in West Asia, he was involved in conceptualising and pushing strategic initiatives such as the India-Middle East Europe-Economic Corridor.
His personal rapport with his counterparts across the world has played a crucial role in getting results from the US-India Initiative on Critical and Emerging Technology as also in restoring trade relations with the US.
Mishra, too, is someone whom Modi has trusted enormously since his days as Gujarat CM. In an interview, he had acknowledged how the Gujarat cadre officer had helped him pick up administrative nuances after he took over as CM.