National Security Advisor Ajit Doval surprised the audience at the Viksit Bharat Young Leaders Dialogue 2026 when he admitted to not using mobile phones or the internet in his official business when he was talking official business and instead told them he uses special secure communication which was not disclosed. On January 10, 2026, speaking at Bharat Mandapam, the senior spymaster of India disclosed: I do not use the internet or the phones, unless it is something family related or when I need to get in touch with the contacts abroad. People do not know other ways of communication. The revelation provides some of the first known information about the operational discipline of Doval, based on decades of intelligence tradecraft.
Digital Detox is aResult of Espionage Imperatives.
Doval bases his phone-free rule on the principles of counterintelligence: phones want to send their location information, metadata history, interception leaks. He had learned analog tradecraft as IB Director (2004-05) and undercover agent in Pakistan/Kashmir, mastering dead drops, couriers, encrypted landlines, techniques that are immune to IMSI-catchers and Pegasus spyware, as well as SIGINT sweeps.
Threats that were neutralized in the first place:
- Geofencing exploits: No Bluetooth/WiFi ping plays betray motion.
- Metadata leaks: App usage: Call logs that are not visible to NSO Group tools.
- Zero-day bugs: No smartphone operating system exploit.
The secure comms provided by NSA rely on committed landlines (OFB fiber), HF radio connectivity, and physical messengers, all of which worked in the case of surgical attacks in 2016, 2019 Balakot.
Operational Realities of High-Value Targets.
Doval PhD. in China border negotiations (20+ years as Special Rep), Quad policy, and offline ISI counter-operating. Embassy cryptophones are provided in foreign visits and R&AW/IB cutouts on domestic operations.
Past experience confirms: Burns of CIA, Barnea of Mossad go through the same procedure. Wang Yi of China relies on military couriers. The cabinet of India operates secure PDAs (except PM, Doval).
| Communication Technique | Doval Usage | Security degree | traceability |
| Mobile Phone | Family only | Low | High |
| Internet/Email | None | None | Total |
| Landline (Secure) | Primary | High | Minimal |
| Couriers/Messengers | Sensitive ops | Absolute | None |
| HF Radio | Field operations | High | Directional |
Philosophy Tradecraft: Shadows Over Signals.
Doval Doctrine puts more emphasis on human intelligence than on cyber – face-to-face meetings create networks of trust; phones leave audit trails. I do without them, he said, with an emphasis on discipline developed to avoid ISI in Lahore (1980s).
After the 26/11 development: The Mumbai attacks revealed the vulnerability of BlackBerry; analog redundancy was promoted by Doval. Encrypted satcom failed at Galwan 2020; couriers won.
Youth Dialogue Context
Speaking to 3,000 students, Doval has made the connection between digital abstinence and national strength: India needs to fortify borders, economy, society, not only militarily. Mobile avoidance is a type of personal OPSEC (operational security) an essential aspect since China/Pakistan is implementing AI surveillance.
Youth takeaways:
- Put human capabilities before applications.
- Expert situational awareness without GPS.
- Develop crisis offline networks.
Implications of National Security.
The smartphone saturation is disputed by Doval (1.2B Indian connections). NCIIPC requires senior officers to restrict devices; Doval goes overboard by avoiding them altogether.
Counter-espionage advantage: There are no WeChat/Telegram intercepts that will support MSS/ISI profiling. The physical security information remains analog.
Adaptation in the modern era: PM use in crises only smoked phones, encrypted PDAs.
Inheritance of the Sentinal of Silence.
In Lahore safehouses, IB, South Block, Doval represents the 20 th century tradecraft in the 21 st -century battlespace. The security of the phone-free life lies in the obscurity of works of China, its hypersonics, and the drones of Pakistan despite it.
He is NSA since 2014 (reappointed 2024), which is why his analog advantage organized Balakot, Wuhan diplomacy, Quad revival. Young questioning had made strange cleverness and skill, in signs war, silence was policy.
Doval does not avoid phones, he goes beyond them. Other means suffice.
