A. S. Dulat

Amarjit Singh Dulat (born 1940) is an Indian bureaucrat former spymaster and a former special director of the Intelligence Bureau he also served as Secretary of R&AW from 1999 to 2000. After retirement, he was appointed as an advisor on Jammu and Kashmir in the Prime Minister's Office and served there from January 2000 to May 2004.

A. S. Dulat
Secretary of Research and Analysis Wing
In office 1999–2000
Preceded by	Arvind Dave
Succeeded by	Vikram Sood
Personal details
Born	Amarjit Singh Dulat 1940 (age 84–85)
Nationality	Indian
Alma mater	Bishop Cotton School, Shimla Panjab University
Profession	Spymaster

Career

Dulat (left) with his successor, former chief of R&AW, Vikram Sood.

The Vice President of India, Hamid Ansari releasing the book Kashmir: The Vajpayee Years authored by Dulat in New Delhi on 21 July 2015. Also visible are Farooq Abdullah and Najeeb Jung.

Born in a Sikh Dulat family, Dulat joined the Indian Police Service from Rajasthan Cadre^[1] in 1965, and in March 1969, joined the Intelligence Bureau.^[2] He was educated at Bishop Cotton School, Shimla and graduated from Panjab University, Chandigarh.^[2]

He served in Kashmir as Joint Director in the Intelligence Bureau from 1988 to 1990 which was arguably the most troublesome time in the valley. His entered Kashmiri politics in 1990 through Shabir Shah, whom he called "big daddy of militants."^[3][4] He then moved to Intelligence Bureau where he was promoted to the rank of Special Director. In 1999, he became chief of Research and Analysis Wing until his December 2000 retirement.^[5][6]

Post retirement

His 2015 book Kashmir: The Vajpayee Years, earned media attention.^[3] In 2018, he co-authored The Spy Chronicles: RAW, ISI and the Illusion of Peace with Asad Durrani, former head of the Inter-Services Intelligence.^[7]

Dulat has criticised Ajit Doval, the National Security Advisor, by calling Doval "hawkish" for his hardline position on handling border disputes with China.^[8] In Dulat's book, A Life In The Shadows: A Memoir, published in 2022, a full chapter was focused on Doval strategy of "muscular power" in Kashmir.^[9] In 2023, he also criticised Doval's doctrine for handling the Kashmir conflict with Pakistan.^[10]

Bibliography

• Kashmir: The Vajpayee Years (with Aditya Sinha) (HarperCollins, 2015) ISBN 978-9351770664
• The Spy Chronicles: RAW, ISI and the Illusion of Peace (with Asad Durrani and Aditya Sinha) (HarperCollins, 2018) ISBN 978-9352779253
• A Life In The Shadows: A Memoir (HarperCollins, 2022) ISBN 978-9356295964

Preceded by Arvind Dave

Secretary, R&AW 1999 - 2000

Succeeded by Vikram Sood