‘I Thought My Career Was Over’: NSA Ajit Doval Recalls China Border Scare

Ajit Doval recalled on Saturday that he once feared his career was over after a border-surveillance team he had sent as a young IPS officer was captured by the Chinese army, PTI reported. He added that an inquiry later found him not at fault. He spoke at the convocation ceremony of IIT Roorkee as the National Security Advisor.

In his 20s, Doval said, he was posted in Sikkim and monitoring activity along the border was part of his duties. Before Sikkim’s merger with India, he dispatched a team on a five-day surveillance mission.

When the team was still missing after 10 days, he received a call from Intelligence Bureau headquarters saying the men were in the custody of the People’s Liberation Army, and he thought then that his career was over, he told PTI.

Border Mission Details

Doval said that while he was serving in Sikkim in his 20s, border monitoring was one of his responsibilities. Before Sikkim’s merger with India, he sent a team on a five-day mission to keep watch along the border.

The team had still not returned after 10 days. Intelligence Bureau headquarters then informed him that the team was in PLA custody, he told PTI.

The team was later released unharmed from Chinese custody. Doval said an inquiry concluded that mistakes in the sketches and maps supplied by headquarters had created confusion over the border’s location, and he was not held responsible.

Lesson From Sherpa

"I was very sad. It was that phase of life when you feel extremely dejected," Doval told PTI at the IIT Roorkee convocation ceremony.

He said a Tibetan Sherpa colleague then offered advice that stayed with him: "It is all a matter of map-reading. Some people read maps correctly, while others get it wrong," Doval told PTI. He described the Sherpa as someone who had scaled Mount Everest eight times and spent years among snowy peaks.

Doval said the Sherpa also shared three mantras: first, where are you; second, where do you want to go; and third, what is the route to get there and come back. Over time, he said, the lesson expanded beyond mountain navigation and became a way of looking at life.