The appointments, which will be co-terminus with the term of the prime minister or until further orders, signal Prime Minister Narendra Modi's intent to continue with his trusted aides who have served him well through his earlier terms.

PK Mishra’s association with the PM goes back to Gujarat when he served as his principal secretary during Modi's stint as chief minister of the state. He followed when Modi became prime minister in 2014, taking up the job of the principal secretary in the PM.

Through Modi's second term, Mishra kept watch over all important policy formulation and important appointments in the government.  A graduate of Delhi School of Economics, his forte is said to be economics and agriculture. 

Hailing from Sambalpur in Odisha, Mishra, aged 75 years, is a 1972 batch Gujarat cadre officer and is known as a man of few words. 

Ajit Doval, former policeman and spymaster, was again appointed National Security Advisor.

The former Intelligence Bureau Director from Garhwal has been the perfect foil for Prime Minister Modi in giving a “nationalistic” garb to the country’s strategic vision – whether it be the "surgical" strikes against Pakistan or the policy of tit-for-tat steps vis-a-vis China in the neighborhood.

Doval, now 79, was part of the team that negotiated the release of hostages during the 1999 hijacking of an Indian Airlines plane flying from Kathmandu to New Delhi. 

Amit Khare, a Jharkhand-cadre IAS officer of the 1985 batch, joined the PMO as an advisor in October 2022 after retiring from the service.  A former secretary in Information & Broadcasting, and Education, Khare, 62, is known to be a sharp and experienced officer working in consonance with the PMO over the past five years. 

From 2008 to 2014 under the UPA, Khare served as joint secretary in the Human Resource Development Ministry, which has now been renamed the Education Ministry. In 2018, he came back as Higher Education and School Education Secretary.

An alumnus of New Delhi's prestigious St Stephen’s College and IIM, Ahmedabad, Khare's last achievement before coming to the PMO was to give shape to the National Education Policy 2020.

Tarun Kapoor is a 1987 batch IAS officer of Himachal Pradesh cadre. Before moving to PMO, he was Petrolem Secretary and also held the position of Chairman, Petroleum and Natural Gas Regulatory Board. He has already worked in ministries of housing and urban affairs as well as rural development between 2018 and 2021.

He served as joint secretary in the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy between 2011 and 2016. Kapoor shot into limelight during the Covid-19 pandemic when he was credited with designing and implementing the free LPG cylinders-to-households scheme.