Government of India Appointed Pankaj Saran As Deputy NSA

Government of India Appointed Pankaj Saran As Deputy National Security Advisor- Services Held, Role in NSC

In a significant move, the Government of India had appointed senior diplomat Pankaj Saran as Deputy National Security Advisor in National Security Council (NSC) of India.

The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC) has approved Pankaj Saran's appointment as the Deputy NSA and will have a tenure of 2 years on deputation basis initially till the date of his superannuation, i.e. 30th November 2018.

Pankaj Saran is a 1982 batch officer of Indian Foreign Service (IFS) was in November 2015 appointed as India's envoy to Russia and is currently serving the position.

Pankaj Saran had held various positions in India and abroad including the country's High Commissioner to Bangladesh.

Pankaj Saran had also served as the Joint Secretary in the Prime Minister's Office between 2007 and 2012.

Pankaj Saran also worked as the Counsellor (political and commercial), Embassy of India in Cairo during 1999 and 2002 and as the First Secretary (political) in the country's mission in Washington between 1992 and 1994.

Pankaj Saran’s wife Preeti Saran also holds a post of Secretary (East) in the Ministry of External Affairs.

Former chief of the Intelligence Bureau, Ajit Doval is the National Security Adviser. He is assisted by Deputy National Security Advisers.

Ex-chief of India's external intelligence agency Research and Analysis Wing (RAW), Rajinder Khanna was in January this year also appointed as the Deputy NSA.