National Security Adviser Ajit Doval on Saturday recalled a tense episode from his early intelligence career in which a team he had sent on a mission near the China border was taken into Chinese custody — an incident he said left him convinced that his career was over.
Doval recounted the episode while addressing the IIT Roorkee Convocation 2026, where he was the chief guest. He said he was in his twenties, a young IPS officer and relatively new to the intelligence profession when he was posted as intelligence in-charge in Sikkim.
At the time, Doval said, Sikkim was in the process of becoming part of India. His responsibilities included monitoring border areas and gathering intelligence on the movements and activities of China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA).
He recalled sending an intelligence team on a mission to a border area. The team was expected to return in about eight days. But the days passed without any word.
“Five days went by, then ten days went by, then perhaps 15 days went by,” Doval said, describing his growing concern over the whereabouts and safety of the personnel. He said there had been no reports of an avalanche or other incident that could explain their disappearance.
The answer eventually came from his headquarters.
Doval said his superior called and asked whether he had sent people across. When he confirmed that he had, he was told that the team was in Chinese custody.
According to Doval’s account, the personnel had been captured by Chinese forces and interrogated. They were subsequently returned to India, apparently following talks or negotiations, he said. When they came back, Doval described them as being “totally shattered” and “in shambles”.
An inquiry was then launched into the incident.
“I knew that this was the end of my career. I was still in my twenties, and I had to start a new career,” Doval recalled.
The inquiry, however, did not find him responsible. Doval said the maps and sketches supplied to his team by headquarters contained defects and errors, and that he had probably done everything correctly based on the material available to him.
The episode nevertheless became a lasting lesson for Doval. He recalled advice from a Tibetan Sherpa colleague associated with the Intelligence Bureau, who told him that life was, in a sense, about “map reading”: knowing where one was, where one wanted to go and how to get there.
Doval used the story to speak to IIT Roorkee’s graduating students about setbacks and navigating uncertainty. The institute’s 2026 convocation is being held on September 19 and 20, with 2,701 students receiving degrees across the two-day ceremony.
The NSA also described the graduating cohort as a particularly fortunate generation, pointing to rapid technological advances and the opportunities they create.
