'No phone, no internet': NSA Ajit Doval reveals how he manages communication

National Security Advisor Ajit Doval (File photo)

• NSA Ajit Doval avoids using phones and internet for official communication
• Doval urges youth to learn from India's painful history and sacrifices
• He stresses leadership, discipline, and security awareness for young Indians

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National Security Advisor (NSA) Ajit Doval has said he functions largely without mobile phones or the internet, relying instead on alternative channels of communication that are not commonly known.

Speaking at the Viksit Bharat Young Leaders Dialogue, Doval addressed questions on how he manages official communication in an age dominated by smartphones and social media.

“I don’t know how you came to know that I don’t use phones. Yes, it is true that I don’t use the internet or phones, apart from personal or family,” Doval said during an interaction with young participants.

He acknowledged that there are rare occasions when technology becomes unavoidable. “Sometimes, I have to use them. I have to contact people abroad. But I manage without them,” he added, underlining that “there are several methods of communication, and some additional methods have to be arranged that are not known to the public.”

Doval, a retired Indian Police Service officer who joined the force in 1968, spoke not just about security practices but also about the broader responsibility of young Indians in shaping the country’s future.

Drawing heavily from history, he urged the audience to reflect on the sacrifices made during India’s freedom struggle. "You are lucky that you were born in an independent India. I was born in a colonised India," he said. "Our ancestors fought for independence and went through so many trials and tribulations. They made great sacrifices for it," he added.

Invoking the experiences of freedom fighters, Doval spoke of humiliation, helplessness and loss. “Many people faced the gallows. Our villages were burned. Our civilisation was destroyed. Our temples were looted, and we watched helplessly as silent spectators,” he said.

According to him, this painful past should ignite a sense of purpose among today’s youth. “This history presents us with a challenge that every young person in India today should have the fire within them,” he remarked, adding, “The word ‘revenge’ isn’t ideal, but revenge itself is a powerful force. We have to take revenge for our history.”

The NSA also stressed the importance of leadership and security awareness, saying India’s past mistakes lay in ignoring emerging threats. “We failed to understand the threats to our security and to ourselves. History taught us a lesson when we remained indifferent to them,” he said.

Referring to current global tensions, Doval observed, “You see any conflict in the world right now, it is about imposing one’s terms on the other country for security.”

Beginning his address on a lighter note, Doval said he was surprised to be speaking to an audience much younger than him, joking that most were at least six decades his junior.

Drawing from what he described as his “lived experiences”, he advised young people to be disciplined and decisive in their choices.

Doval has spent decades working in intelligence, internal security and counter-terrorism, including undercover assignments and negotiations during major crises.

Despite the digital age, he maintains that effective governance and security do not depend solely on phones or the internet, but on judgment, experience and systems that go beyond what is visible to the public.