The National Security Advisor (NSA), Ajit Doval paid a visit to his alma mater Rashtriya Raksha University on Thursday. He was accompanied by the Deputy NSA Rajinder Khanna and Ambassador Vikram Misri.
The high-profile visit was to assess the academic and research set up at the varsity. He attended detailed briefings at the Information Technology Labs on Geo-Intelligence Systems, OSINT and AI. He was also briefed about the various programmes run by the University in the domain of police administration, defence and strategic studies, maritime and coastal security, IT and AI, criminology and behavioural sciences, and international relations and strategic languages.
Also present were members of the NSA Board: Prof Dr Bimal N. Patel (RRU, V-C), Sridhar Vembu, Anshuman Tripathi, Prof V. Kamakoti, Kulbir Krishnan and Tilak Devasher. Board members Devendra Sharma, Dr K. Radhakrishnan and Lt Gen. S L Narasimhan were present virtually.
During his meeting, the NSA encouraged the students towards “an empirical research model to develop a solutions-oriented approach in understanding the nations’ most pressing security challenges.” He stressed on the need to develop a generation of security-oriented citizens who are empowered to “take up new challenges in the domain of national security while being fully integrated in the economy.”
Later, the NSAB held a closed-door meet. The session included experts from various domains deliberating on contemporary and futuristic issues of national security. The NSAB meets in New Delhi regularly but, owing to the special place of Rashtriya Raksha University in the space of national security, the NSAB meeting found a congenial place in RRU to host such important deliberations.
Rashtriya Raksha University was established by the Parliament of India, Act No. 31 of 2020. It is headquartered in Gandhinagar, Gujarat and will soon inaugurate its second campus in Pasighat, Arunachal Pradesh.