Guwahati: Senior Indian Police Service (IPS) officer Parag Jain has been appointed as the new chief of the Research and Analysis Wing (R&AW), India’s external intelligence agency, officials confirmed on Saturday.
Jain, a 1989-batch IPS officer from the Punjab cadre, is currently serving as the head of the Aviation Research Centre (ARC), a key wing of R&AW that handles aerial surveillance and technical intelligence.
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He will assume charge after the retirement of incumbent R&AW chief Ravi Sinha on June 30 and will serve a two-year term.
Recognised for his expertise in intelligence operations and matters related to India’s neighbourhood, Jain is the second senior-most officer in R&AW and brings over two decades of experience within the agency to his new role.
His extensive career includes critical assignments in Punjab during the peak of insurgency, where he served as Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) and Deputy Inspector General (DIG) in various districts.
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Within R&AW, Jain has held several important positions, notably overseeing the Pakistan desk and playing a significant role in intelligence operations in Jammu and Kashmir around the time of the abrogation of Article 370.
Jain has also been posted in Indian diplomatic missions abroad, including in Sri Lanka and Canada. During his tenure in Canada, he was closely involved in monitoring Khalistani extremist activities and terror modules operating from foreign soil.