(This was originally posted in Hindustan Times by Shishir Gupta)
The Narendra Modi government on Thursday extended tenures of Samant Kumar Goel, Secretary, Research and Analysis Wing (R&AW), and Arvinda Kumar, Director Intelligence Bureau (IB) for a period of one year. The two 1984-batch IPS officers of Punjab and Assam-Meghalaya cadre respectively now retire on June 30, 2022.
The decision to extend tenures of the two spy chiefs was taken on the basis of their work and also taking the future of organizations into consideration. Goel has been a hard-core operations man, while Kumar is known for political reading of the internal situation. Both work under the directions of Prime Minister, Home Minister Amit Shah and National Security Advisor Ajit Doval.
While the government remains tight-lipped over RAW activities, the IB has been giving active feedback to the government on internal security situation including political protests, Maoist activities and terror networks.
INFORMATION ABOUT R&AW
The Research and Analysis Wing is the foreign intelligence agency of India. The agency’s primary function is gathering foreign intelligence, counter-terrorism, proliferation, advising Indian policymakers, and advancing India’s foreign strategic interests.
INFORMATION ABOUT IB
The Intelligence Bureau is India’s domestic intelligence, internal security and counter-intelligence agency. It is reputed to be the oldest such organization in the world. Arvind Kumar, the current director of the IB, took over from Rajiv Jain on 26 June 2019
