Former RAW chief Rajinder Khanna appointed deputy NSA

New Delhi: The Appointment Committee of the Cabinet headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday appointed former RAW Chief Rajinder Khanna as the Deputy National Security Adviser (NSA), an official order said.

Khanna's appointment to the post is on re-employment and on contract basis until further orders as per usual terms and conditions as are admissible to Deputy NSA, said the order issued by the Ministry of Personnel.

The senior diplomate, a 1978 batch IAS officer, headed the Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) from December 2014 for a fixed two-year period.Khanna is currently working as Officer on Special Duty (Neighbourhood Studies) in the National Security Council Secretariat.

He will assist the National Security Advisor Ajit Doval, who is also a former RAW chief.As a RAW agent, Khanna has led many counter-terrorism operations and is reportedly an expert on Pakistan and Islamist terrorism.