As the tenure of India's two intelligence chiefs comes to an end, the Narendra Modi government on Wednesday, June 26, appointed Arvind Kumar as the head of the Intelligence Bureau (IB) and Samant Goel as the chief of the Research and Analysis Wing (RAW).
As per reports, Arvind Kumar will replace Rajiv Jain and Samant Goel will succeed Anil Dhasmana. Rajiv Jain and Anil Dhasmana's tenure ends on June 29 and June 30, respectively.
Kumar and Goel, Indian Police Service officers of 1984 batch, will take charge on June 30.
Today's appointments were made by the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet. Prime Minister Narendra Modi is the chairman of this committee of the Cabinet.
A six-month extension was given to Jain and Dhasmana, who were appointed in December 2016, as the country moved into election mode.
IB looks after internal security of the country while RAW looks after external intelligence.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah had earlier stated that the IB will report directly to him. Earlier, former Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh also had IB report directly to him. Two Ministers of State in North Block will take care of the management of other departments.
After the appointment of the new Intel chiefs, all eyes will now be on the appointment of the Army chief of India with the retirement of incumbent General Bipin Rawat scheduled by the end of 2019.
