Samant Goel appointed as the new Chief of Research and Analysis Wing

Narendra Modi Government has appointed senior IPS officer Samant Goel as the new Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) chief on June 26, 2019. In another move, government has appointed senior IPS officer Arvind Kumar as the director of the Intelligence Bureau (IB).

Their names were finalized by the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC), headed by PM Narendra Modi and comprising Home Minister Amit Shah.

•    Samant Goel was heading operations for the agency and was instrumental in planning the February 2019 Balakot air strikes and also the 2016 surgical strikes before his appointment as raw chief.
•    Samant Goel, a 1984 batch IPS officer of Punjab cadre will succeed Anil Dhasmana.
•    Arvind Kumar, a 1984 batch IPS officer, will head the Intelligence Bureau (IB), the main internal intelligence unit of the government.
•    Arvind Kumar will replace Rajiv Jain, who completed an extended tenure as the IB chief.
•    Both Goel and Kumar have a strong intelligence background, with Goel first having served in R&AW in 2001 and Kumar having been with IB since 1991.

Research and Analysis Wing (R&AW):
♦ Formed on: 21 September 1968
♦ Headquarters: New Delhi, India
♦ Minister responsible: Narendra Modi, PM of India
♦ It is the foreign intelligence agency of India.
♦ The agency’s primary function is gathering foreign intelligence, engaging in counter-terrorism, promoting counter-proliferation, advising Indian policymakers, and advancing India’s foreign strategic interests.
♦ It is also involved in the security of India’s nuclear programme.