NEW DELHI: India‘s top external intelligence agency, the Research and Analysis Wing (R&AW), has a new chief: Parag Jain. From Punjab‘s militancy to Pakistan‘s terror camps, the new R&AW chief’s silent precision has shaped India’s sharpest responses.
Known for his calm demeanour and razor-sharp strategic mind, Jain steps into the role after the retirement of Ravi Sinha on June 30. Behind the scenes of some of India’s most critical counter-terror and geopolitical operations, Jain is often described by colleagues as “soft-spoken, composed, and quietly lethal.”
Until now, he led the Aviation Research Centre (ARC), the tech-ops wing of R&AW, where his mastery of surveillance and precision targeting shaped many operations, most recently the much-talked-about Operation Sindoor, India’s retaliatory strike after the Pahalgam terror attack.
Steel in Silk: Punjab Roots and Global Ops
An Indian Police Service (IPS) officer from the 1989 Punjab cadre, Jain earned his stripes in the most turbulent times. As Punjab battled militancy in the 1990s, this St. Stephen‘s alumnus was deployed in hotspots like Bhatinda and Hoshiarpur. Known for thinking before acting, he built a reputation for delivering results without theatrics.
His calm during crises stood out. Whether as Senior Superintendent of Police in Chandigarh or Deputy Inspector General of Ludhiana, Jain earned respect not through noise, but through consistent, calculated performance. Peers recall his ability to absorb stress and redirect it into strategy, skills that later defined his intelligence career.
Later, his assignments in Canada and Sri Lanka marked his evolution into a global intelligence operative. In Canada, he tracked Khalistani sleeper cells and flagged their growing influence early. In Sri Lanka, he managed India’s intelligence engagement during the country’s economic collapse and regime change (2022–24), a period that demanded both discretion and foresight.
The Strategist Behind Cross-Border Precision
Jain’s Jammu and Kashmir stint saw him operate at the heart of India’s most high-stakes decisions. He was part of the intelligence backbone during the 2019 Balakot air strikes and the abrogation of Article 370 from the Constitution of India. Later, as ARC head, he led R&AW’s Pakistan desk and shaped the technical groundwork for India’s cross-border surveillance.
But Operation Sindoor is widely considered his masterstroke. The precision missile strikes on terror camps in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir were based on intelligence Jain’s team painstakingly gathered over the years. His method? Fusing human intelligence with tech surveillance to pinpoint targets with surgical accuracy.
The Officer Who Lets Results Speak
Described as a “listener who always asks the right questions,” Jain is widely respected for his diligence, integrity, and hands-on approach. Former IPS officers call him “a professional’s professional,” while his training mentors recall a cadet who turned quiet discipline into unshakable resolve.
R&AW’s new chief doesn’t seek headlines, but his actions shape them. As India navigates a tough geopolitical landscape — border tensions, proxy wars, and shifting alliances — Parag Jain is the man charting the invisible paths with clarity, caution, and cold precision.
This article is republished by arrangement with Defence Capital.
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