Sanjiv Tripathi

Sanjiv Tripathi is an officer with India's external intelligence agency the Research and Analysis Wing (RAW or R&AW). Tripathi has been identified as a protégé of RAW Chief Ashok Chaturvedi and is being groomed by him to eventually take over when Chaturvedi retires. However, as Chaturvedi's name has become repeatedly embroiled in scandals and intelligence failures that have plagued RAW since he became the head of the organization, Tripathi's prospects appear uncertain.

Because of his close relationship with Chaturvedi, Tripathi was personally selected to assess sensitive intelligence dossiers despite his lack of experience. Tripathi has been criticized as being only an administrator with no prior intelligence background. This was reflected in his failure to assess the possibility of Pakistani President, Pervez Musharraf, declaring a state of emergency in Pakistan. In fact both Chaturvedi and Tripathi advised the Indian prime minister, Manmohan Singh, that Musharraf would not suspend the constitution and the situation in Pakistan would remain stable. On November 3, 2007, Musharraf suspended the constitution and declared a state of emergency. Manmohan Singh is believed to have been "livid" by the incorrect intelligence assessment he received from Chaturvedi and Tripathi.

On December 8, 2007, at an international conference organized by the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) in Manama, Bahrain, Indian National Security Advisor MK Narayanan warned about the threat of international [...] and its intention to hit at economic targets in the Middle East and South Asia. However, controversially, Chaturvedi and Tripathi took a completely opposite view and decided to downgrade RAW's focus on the threat of [...].