Centre appoints Pankaj Kumar Singh as deputy national security advisor

Pankaj Kumar Singh, the former director general of the Border Security Force (BSF), was on Tuesday appointed as the deputy national security advisor (Dy NSA) of India, according to an order issued by the Centre.

The 1988-batch Indian Police Service (IPS) officer of Rajasthan cadre, who headed the BSF till December 31 last year before he retired, has been appointed as Dy NSA on a re-employment contract of two years, the order said.

As the BSF chief, Singh oversaw the force coming up with low-cost anti-drone technology to tackle intruding drones at the Indo-Pakistan border.

In the new role as Dy NSA, he will assist NSA Ajit Doval in creating and implementing the country’s national security strategies, including assessing threats posed by terrorism, data security, cyber threats, readiness of concerned agencies and cooperation between different organisations dealing with security issues.

When Singh took charge of the BSF on August 31, 2021, he had created history by being the only son-father due to have held the top post of a paramilitary force during their services.

His father, retired IPS officer of 1959-batch Prakash Singh, had also headed the BSF from June 1993 to January 1994.