Nsa Ajit Kumar Doval Maha Vir Chakra

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 I followed the 72 hour Indo-Pak conflict very closely. Wars involving states or countries with modern armies, use of modern weapons and new technologies are of great interest to me. In my reckoning the first 'modern' war (after Vietnam) between state actors was the Bosnian conflict of the early 1990s. The Serbs shot down an American F-117 Nighthawk stealth fighter using an old Cold War era S-125 missile. 1950s tech could still shoot down 1990s stealth aircraft. The F117 has since been "retired".
I'll get to the point. In the recently ended conflict, India showed an astounding capacity to wage a super modern war. Without a doubt India is a world class military super power. I still have serious doubts about Indian politicians, their failing economy and even their grip on their country. But the Indian Armed Forces came through superbly, par excellence.
I believe over the next few months and years the Americans, Russians, Chinese, Brits will be analysing and studying the Indian Armed Forces 72 hour action against Pakistan.

Indian firepower was devastating but more importantly highly accurate. Very close to 'one shot one kill'. This meant very measured use of munitions especially expensive missiles and rockets. And the Indians did not use any ballistic missiles (no Agni, Prithvi etc) or even their super high tech, Mach 3 Brahmos cruise missile.  The Brahmos remains untested in battle - it has never been fired in a conflict. 
Perhaps reflecting the evolution of war in Ukraine, the Indians too resorted to very effective use of standoff weapons. Including 'very old' systems like the Scalp missiles (British Storm Shadow). The Storm Shadow has failed in Ukraine because Russia's advanced anti-missile defenses take them down easily. But Pakistan did not have a capable anti-missile defense which could take down India's Storm Shadow missiles. 
The Indians devastated  the Pakistani Nur Khan airbase in Rawalpindi, the Murid base in Chakwal, and the Rafiqui base - all in Punjab. I believe more bases were hit but these were mentioned by Pakistan themselves.
Perhaps the star of the show was the locally designed and Made-In-India 'Akash' anti-missile system which performed extremely well against Pakistani missiles, jet fighters and drones.

      Made in India Akash air defence system. Range 30km, Height 18km, Speed Mach 3.
 
Over the three days Pakistan fired hundreds of drones and missiles into India but only a handful got through the Indian air defences. Among the missiles that was shot down was a Pakistani Fatah 2 ballistic missile which was shot down on a trajectory headed for Delhi - the Indian capital. 


It was most probably brought down either by an Akash or Russian S-400 system, which India also has in its inventory.
Another notable achievement was India taking down drones and low flying threats using radar guided anti aircraft guns like the L70 Bofors (below), the Russian Schilka Zu 23mm AA gun mounted on a tracked vehicle. These are Made-in-India (under license) and the Indians have hundreds of these weapons dispersed along their huge country.



Above L70 Bofors radar guided AA gun Below track mounted Russian Schilka ZU 23mm radar guided AA gun. 


India can rest assured that after this, the export orders for Indian weapons will possibly shoot up. They have been battle tested and proven. 
On the third and final day, just hours before the ceasefire Indian artillery gunners scored direct hits on Pakistani firing positions along the Line of Control or LOC. One shot one kill. The Indians used Made-in-India artillery spotter radar which proved to be very accurate.
Not just on the military side but the Indians also showed professionalism in how they handled the Press and Media. Throughout the three days the prime minister and members of the Indian Cabinet did not say a word to the Press about the military action. So there were no instances of different ministers saying different things, or saying anything. Even the super-cantankerous Foreign Minister S Jeyakumar went totally silent. 
Twice a day the Director General (a professional Civil Servant) of their External Affairs Ministry chaired a press briefing. He was assisted by two women Armed Forces officers, of Colonel rank, one from the Air Force and one from the Army. One of the women officers was a Muslim. The female officers provided factual and technical updates of what had happened in the combat areas while the DG gave an overview of events. Some of their briefs were a tad emotional with some 'adjectives' thrown in. But on the whole the briefings cut the clutter from so much fake news, psy-war, propaganda etc that was floating around. (The Indian aircraft carrier Vikrant did not strike Karachi port). The female officers also projected a less threatening perception of the situation - if that was possible. Perhaps they were inspired by Karoline Leavitt of the White House.
 


Throughout the conflict the Prime Minister Modi met with a war council once or twice a day. 
 



The war council was very small - consisting of the PM, the Ministers of Defence, Foreign Affairs, the Armed Forces service chiefs (Army, Air Force, Navy) and this guy - Ajit Kumar Dovall the National Security Advisor (yellow arrow in the picture above).
Here is a picture of Ajit Kumar Dovall, 80 yrs old and the National Security Advisor to the Prime Minister of India.



 
The Pakistanis call him Ajit Kumar Devil.
Shri Ajit Dovall has a very long history as India's super spook, a spy. Throughout his long career in the Indian Intelligence Bureau he was a covert intelligence operative who has undertaken numerous undercover, black ops and covert ops against terrorism and external threats. 
Among his exploits was being an undercover agent inside Pakistan for seven years where he attended Muslims prayers in the mosques throughout Pakistan. This also meant that he could speak Punjabi and Urdu.
He spent five years undercover as a Mizo rebel fighter in Mizoram where one can assume that he also spoke the Tibeto-Burman Mizo language. How he passed off as a Mizo (Myanmar type people) is a wonder. 
During the famous (or infamous) Sri Harmandir Sahib or Golden Temple clash in Amritsar in 1984 Ajit Dovall went undercover as a rickshaw puller and penetrated the Khalistanis who were holed up inside the Golden Temple. He had convinced them that he was an undercover agent of the Pakistani ISI sent out to help them. That was a James Bond moment. He could not afford to be shaken.
For all his exploits Ajit Dovall was awarded the Kirti Chakra (also known then as the Maha Vir Chakra) - one of the highest awards for bravery and valour awarded to non-combatant personnel. 

The entire three day conflict with Pakistan was micro-managed by Ajit Kumar Dovall - including the appointment and workings of the prime minister's War Council, the structure and details of the media briefings, the force levels used by the Indian armed forces, the choice of weaponry (the missiles, no Brahmos etc) and the close liason with the US Secretary of State Marco Rubio to enforce the ceasefire. Media reports also say that throughout the conflict Mr Dovall maintained direct communications with his Pakistani counterpart. Spooks speak their own language.
It is likely that one day the Indians will build statues for Ajit Kumar Dovall. The Pakistanis will continue to know him as Ajit Kumar The Devil.  
The views expressed are those of the writer and do not necessarily reflect those of MMKtT.
By Syed Akbar Ali 

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