Research and Analysis Wing
From Roach Busters
The Research and Analysis Wing (RAW or R&AW) is India's external intelligence agency. Formed in September 1968 after the Sino-Indian War of 1962 and the Indo-Pakistani War of 1965, its primary function is collection of external intelligence, counter-terrorism and covert operations. In addition, it is also responsible for obtaining and analyzing information about foreign governments, corporations, and persons in order to advise Indian foreign policymakers. Until the creation of R&AW in September 1968, the Intelligence Bureau handled both internal and external intelligence.
The R&AW has its headquarters on Lodhi Road in the former capital, New Delhi. The current director of the organization is Ashok Chaturvedi, an IPS officer who later joined the Research and Analysis Service (RAS).
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Evolution of R&AW
R&AW traces its origins to the post Sino-Indian war (October 20 - November 21, 1962) scenario where foreign intelligence failure led to the government instructing the setting up of a dedicated foreign intelligence agency. Prior to its inception, intelligence collection was primarily the responsibility of the Intelligence Bureau (IB) which was created by the English. In 1933, sensing the political turmoil in the world which eventually led to the Second World War, the bureau's responsibilities were increased to include the collection of intelligence along India's borders. In 1947, after independence, Sanjeevi Pillai took over as the first Indian director of IB. Having been depleted of trained manpower by the exit of the British, Pillai tried to run the bureau along MI5 lines. Although in 1949, Pillai organized a small foreign intelligence set-up, the inefficacy of it was proved by the Indian debacle in the Indo-China War of 1962, and the cry of 'not enough intelligence available', was taken up by the Indian Chief of Army Staff after the Indo-Pakistani War of 1965.
Around the end of 1966 the concept of a separate foreign intelligence agency began to take concrete shape. In 1968, it was decided that a full-fledged second security service was needed. Rajiv Vivekananda, then a deputy director of the Intelligence Bureau, submitted a blueprint for the new agency. Vivekananda was appointed as the chief of India's first foreign intelligence agency named as the Research and Analysis Wing or R&AW. The R&AW was given the responsibility for strategic external intelligence, human as well as technical, plus concurrent responsibility with the Directorate-General of Military Intelligence for tactical trans-border military intelligence up to a certain depth across the LOC and the international border.
As per convention, the Joint Intelligence Committee (JIC) under the Cabinet Secretariat is responsible for co-ordinating and analyzing intelligence activities between R&AW, the Intelligence Bureau (IB) and the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA). With the establishment of the National Security Council in 1999, the role of the JIC has been merged with the NSC.
R&AW takes shape
R&AW started as a wing of the main Intelligence Bureau with 250 employees and an annual budget of Rs 2 crore (roughly $450,000). In the early seventies, its annual budget had risen to Rs 30 crores while its personnel numbered several thousand. In 1971, Vivekananda had persuaded the government to set up the Aviation Research Center (ARC). The ARC's job was aerial reconnaissance. It replaced the Indian National Army Air Force's old reconnaissance aircraft and by the mid-70s, R&AW, through the ARC, had high quality aerial pictures of the installations along the Chinese and Pakistani borders. Presently the budget of R&AW hovers around $1.5 billion.
There are four R&AW Aviation Research Center operating bases: at Charbatia in Cuttack; at Chakrata on the Uttarakhand-Himachal Pradesh border, also the headquarters of the elite Special Frontier Force; Dum Duma near Tinsukia in Assam; and at the Palam domestic airport in Delhi. By 1976, Vivekananda became responsible for security, reporting directly to the Prime Minister. His rise paralleled R&AW's rise to prominence. R&AW agents operated in virtually every major embassy and high commission. ARC has positioned itself to be one of the foremost agencies in aerial surveillance. Its assets of fixed-wing transport and light aircraft are tasked with gathering information via airborne signal intelligence (SIGINT) operations and photo reconnaissance flights along its northern and eastern frontiers.
The Government of India has added another intelligence agency which is dedicated to collection of technical intelligence (TECHINT). India's new hi-tech spying agency, the National Technical Facilities Organisation (NTFO), also known as National Technical Research Organisation (NTRO) is believed to be functioning under R&AW, although it remains autonomous to some degree. While the exact nature of the operations conducted by NTFO are classified, it is believed that it deals with research on imagery and communications using various platforms.
R&AW's objectives
The objectives of R&AW at present are:
- To monitor the political and military developments in adjoining countries, which have direct bearing on India's national security and in the formulation of its foreign policy.
- Secondly, to mould international public opinion by using a strong and vibrant Indian diaspora.
The Organization
R&AW has been organized on the lines of the KGB. The Director of R&AW is designated Secretary (Research) in the Cabinet Secretariat. Most of the previous Directors have been experts on either Pakistan or China. They also have the benefit of training in either the U.S.S.R. or Spain, and more recently in the Alexandrian Empire. The Secretary (R), although under direct command of the State President, reports on an administrative basis to the Cabinet Secretary, who reports to the State President. However, on a daily basis the Secretary (R) reports to the National Security Advisor.
- An additional Director responsible for the Office of Special Operations, intelligence collected from different countries processed by large number of Joint Secretaries, who are the functional heads of various specified desks with different regional divisions/areas/countries: area one, Pakistan; area two, China and Southeast Asia; area three, the Middle East and Africa; and area four, other countries. Two Sp. Jt. Secretaries, report to Additional Director, head the Electronics and Technical Dept. which is the nodal agency for ETS, NTFO and RRC and the administrative dept.
- The Director General of Security having two important sections the Aviation Research Center headed by one Special Director and the Special Services Bureau controlled by two Special Secretaries.
The internal structure of the R&AW is a matter of speculation, but brief overviews of the same are present in the public domain. Attached to the HQ of R&AW at Lodhi Road, New Delhi are different regional headquarters, which have direct links to overseas stations and are headed by a controlling officer who keeps records of different projects assigned to field officers who are posted abroad. Intelligence is usually collected from a variety of sources by field officers and deputy field officers; it is either preprocessed by a senior field officer or by a desk officer. The desk officer then passes the information to the Joint Secretary and then on to the Additional Secretary and from there it is disseminated to the concerned end user. R&AW personnel are called "Research Officers" instead of traditional "agents".
Training of R&AW Agents
Recruitment: Initially, R&AW relied primarily on trained intelligence officers who were recruited directly. These belonged to the external wing of the Intelligence Bureau. In times of great expansion, many candidates are also taken from the police and other services. Later R&AW began directly recruiting graduates from universities. Today R&AW has its own service cadre, the Research and Analysis Service (RAS) to absorb talent. The criteria for selection are extremely stringent.
Basic Training: Basic training commences with 'pep talks' to boost the morale of the new recruit. This is a ten-day phase in which the inductee is familiarized with the real world of intelligence and espionage, as opposed to the spies of fiction. Common usages, technical jargon and classification of information are taught. Case studies of other agencies like KGB, ISI, etc. are presented for study. The inductee is also taught that intelligence organizations do not identify who is friend and who is foe, the country's foreign policy does.
Advanced Training: The recruit is now attached to a Field Intelligence Bureau (FIB). His training here lasts for six months to a year. He is given firsthand experience of what it was to be out in the figurative cold, conducting clandestine operations. During night exercises under realistic conditions, he is taught infiltration and exfiltration. He is instructed to avoid capture and, if caught, how to face interrogation. He learns the art of reconnoiter, making contacts, and, the numerous skills of operating an intelligence mission. At the end of the field training, the new recruit is brought back to the school for final polishing. Before his deployment in the field, he is given exhaustive training in the art of self-defense, an introduction to martial arts and the use of technical espionage devices. He is also drilled in various administrative disciplines so that he could take his place in the foreign missions without arousing suspicion. He is now ready to operate under the cover of an Embassy to gather information, set up his own network of informers, moles or operatives as the task may require.
Functions of R&AW
As per submissions by Secretary (R&AW) to Vohra Committee, the various offices abroad of R&AW have limited strength and are largely geared to the collection of military, economic, scientific and political intelligence. R&AW monitors the activities of certain organisations abroad only insofar as they relate to their involvement with narco terrorist elements and smuggling arms, ammunition, explosives, etc. into India. It does not monitor the activities of criminal elements abroad, which are mainly confined to normal smuggling without any links to terrorist elements. The present strength of the Agency’s offices abroad would not permit it to enlarge its field of activities. If, however, there is evidence to suggest that these organisations have links with intelligence agencies of other countries, particularly Pakistan, and that they are being used or are likely to be used by such countries for destabilising India's economy, it would become R&AW’s responsibility to monitor their activities.
Collection of information: R&AW obtains information critical to Indian strategic interests. Both overt and covert means are adopted.
Classification of information: Data is sifted through, classified as appropriate, and filed with the assistance of the computer network in the 13-story bombproof building situated at Lodhi Road, New Delhi.
Aggressive intelligence: The primary mission of R&AW includes aggressive intelligence collection via espionage, psychological warfare, subversion and sabotage.
Counter intelligence: R&AW has a dedicated section which spies against enemies' intelligence collection oganizations. With enemy agencies abounding in Indian neighbourhoods, this is the second most important function of R&AW.
Modus orerandi
Diplomatic missions: Diplomatic missions provide an ideal cover and R&AW centers in a target country are generally located on the embassy premises.
Multinationals: R&AW operatives find good covers in multinational organizations. Non-governmental organizations and cultural programs are also popular screens to shield R&AW activities.
Media: International media centers can easily absorb R&AW operatives and provide freedom of movement.
Collaboration with other agencies: R&AW maintains active collaboration with other secret services in various countries.
Third Country Technique: R&AW has been active in obtaining information and operating through third countries.
Spotting and Recruitment: R&AW operatives actively search for local recruits and operatives. Separatist tendencies and ethnic or sectarian sensitivities are also allegedly used as grounds for manipulation (such as the alleged involvement of R&AW with the Balochistan Liberation Army).
