NEW DELHI: NDTV has named Aditya Raj Kaul senior executive editor for geopolitics, national security and strategic affairs at NDTV 24×7, bolstering its newsroom with one of India’s most seasoned voices on foreign policy and defence.
Kaul wasted no time settling in. On his very first day, he was filing dispatches from Tianjin, China, where Narendra Modi, Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin gathered for the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation summit.
With more than 15 years in frontline journalism, Kaul has reported from some of the world’s most volatile flashpoints — the India-China standoff in Ladakh, the abrogation of Article 370, the rise of ISIS in Iraq and Jordan, major terror strikes in Afghanistan and Pakistan, and India’s first state visit to Israel and Palestine. He was the first journalist on the ground during the 2014 Kashmir floods and has tracked disasters from Uttarakhand to Chhattisgarh’s Maoist belt.
His international docket includes the G20 in Australia, Brics in China, Asean in Malaysia and Vietnam, and Saarc in Nepal, alongside high-level visits to the US, Germany and Israel. Along the way, he has secured exclusives with leaders such as S. Jaishankar, Amrullah Saleh, Tony Abbott and Benjamin Netanyahu.
An award-winning documentary maker, Kaul’s films include Airlift on India’s evacuation in Ukraine and Killed by the Taliban on the death of Danish Siddiqui. His work has earned the Golden DigiPub World Award, News Television Award, and the Ram Jethmalani Prize.
Rahul Kanwal, NDTV’s chief executive and editor-in-chief, hailed him as “among the finest in the field of strategic and international journalism,” adding that his presence in Tianjin on day one “shows his readiness and NDTV’s intent to be at the forefront of global stories.”
Kaul said he was “honoured to join NDTV at this important juncture,” pledging to bring “clarity and context to events that impact millions.”
