Arvind Gupta appointed deputy NSA

Former diplomat Arvind Gupta was Monday appointed deputy national security adviser in place of former police officer Nehchal Sandhu, who had resigned last week.

Gupta, a 1979 batch Indian Foreign Service officer, will also be secretary, National Security Council Secretariat (NSCS).

An official communication issued by the department of personnel and training said that Gupta, who is at present director general of Institute of Defence Studies and Analyses (IDSA), has been appointed for a period of three years with immediate effect on "re-employment on contract basis".

Sandhu, a former Intelligence Bureau director, had resigned due to "personal reasons".

Gupta holds a Ph.D in international relations from Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi.

He was visiting member at the Tata Institute for Fundamental Research (1974-76) and served at the Oil and Natural Gas Commission (1976) and at the State Bank of India (1976-79) before joining the Indian Foreign Service.

Gupta, who retired from the Indian Foreign Service in 2013, has served in diplomatic missions in Moscow, London and Ankara.

Prior to joining the IDSA, he was joint secretary at NSCS from 1999 to 2007. During his tenure at the NSCS, he dealt with a wide range of international and national security issues and participated in the various working groups and task forces set up by the National Security Council. He also worked with the Kargil Review Committee.

Gupta has been a member of several task forces on issues such as space security, climate change, cyber security and nuclear disarmament.