The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet named on June 28 senior IPS officer Parag Jain as the next chief of the Research and Analysis Wing (R&AW), India’s external intelligence agency, replacing Ravi Sinha who held office since 1 July 2023 and will continue up to 30 June 2025. Jain, a 1989-batch IPS officer of the Punjab cadre, will assume office on July 1 for a fixed term of two years.
IPS Jain the ‘super sleuth’ as he is identified as one among within intelligence circles. Jain is credited with several high-stakes operations based on combination of human and technical intelligence (HUMINT and TECHINT). Much as his contribution to intelligence, Jain made huge impact during Operation Sindoor by spearheading timely inputs to carry out precision missile strikes on terror infrastructure in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (POK).
The Operation Sindoor owes him a credit for managing with trails of insider information that enabled target-based strikes.
His association with J&K security apparatus amidst the challenging terror modules would go on to add weight to his current tenure given that the country’s strategic position in the global security situation.
Jian comes across as a “methodical and discreet” officer, as senior officials on the inside were quoted as saying to media. Besides donning several key roles, Jain was promoted to the rank of Director General of Police (DGP) in Punjab on January 1, 2021.
Jain has previously represented India in Canada and Sri Lanka.
