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Thread: Indian Intelligence

  1. #1
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    Default Meanwhile, in India...

    A flavor of India that, one way or the other, is likely to pass into history:

    http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/c...ow/5414682.cms

    http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/c...ow/5411399.cms

    btw, as and when India is forced to shape up and join the more organized world, I personally will regret the passing of this level of laissez-faire. With all its poverty and problems, it was/is an endearingly soft and mushy world. Hopefully, we will be able to preserve some of India's more pleasant aspects even as we try to bring the police up to modern standards...

  2. #2
    Council Member davidbfpo's Avatar
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    Default Indian Intelligence

    There is a thread on Pakistan's ISI elsewhere, missing is a thread on the main regional power, India. The ISI thread:http://council.smallwarsjournal.com/...ad.php?t=14914

    This week the Lowy Institute, an Australian think tank's had a short review article on its blogsite, by the RUSI (UK) based analyst Shashank Joshi; I thought it was interesting:http://www.lowyinterpreter.org/post/...-scrutiny.aspx

    An Indian "lurker" responded that the article was:
    ..a very amateurish attempt...(partly as he relied on)..Srinath Raghavan who knew only in 2013 that Indian intelligence have no legal backing . Raghavan is not a historian but only a young journalist...
    They located an Indian article that described the wide context first and then several pages (pgs. 6-9) on the current picture; see attachment.

    On two recent threads we have touched upon the apparent byzantine bureaucracy that India has today, sometimes blamed on the British - even if independence was in 1947 and India has had plenty of time to change.
    Attached Files Attached Files
    Last edited by davidbfpo; 01-19-2014 at 09:29 PM.
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    Default

    Tangential thought: the Byzantine bureaucracy that is blamed on the British was not as bad in British times as it is today because the British rulers could (not always for the better..but then again, what is?) draw upon unwritten rules of aristocratic, racist and nationalist solidarity to bypass a lot of BS when it suited them. India, lacking that coherence (again, not completely lacking; there IS an Indian patriotic feeling to draw upon and perhaps also a sense of Brahmin solidarity and mission in some cases) is more a prisoner of that Byzantine bureaucracy than British India ever was....

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    Default The RAW: ...

    "Understanding India's External Intelligence Agency" (DFI thread) in two posts, #1 and #2.

    Synopsis

    The Research and Analysis Wing (R&AW) is India's primary external intelligence agency. It was formed in September 1968, after it became apparent that the newly independent Republic of India lacked a credible external intelligence gathering agency after the Indo-China War of 1962 and the Indo-Pakistani War of 1965. Its primary function is the collection of external intelligence, counter-terrorism, sabotage, counter-sabotage and covert external operations; in addition, it is responsible for obtaining and analyzing information about foreign governments, corporations and individuals, in order to assess and advise Indian foreign policymakers. Until the creation of RAW, the Intelligence Bureau [IB] handled both internal and external intelligence.
    It would be well if an Indian expert on Indian external intelligence came out of the woodwork to keep this thread on track.

    And, yup, it seems I've taken on a foreign assignment (virtual kind).

    Regards

    Mike

  5. #5
    Council Member davidbfpo's Avatar
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    Default Q&A on Indian intelligence

    JMM99 (Mike) asked in January 2014:
    It would be well if an Indian expert on Indian external intelligence came out of the woodwork to keep this thread on track.
    Here is an Indian expert on intelligence, snag the focus is on internal security in an interview prompted by him writing a book:
    National Security and Intelligence Management, A new paradigm is a book by V Balachandran, former special secretary, cabinet secretariat, government of India. The book is a compilation of Balachandran’s published works and lectures over the past 15 years on various facets of our national security.
    Link:http://vickynanjappa.com/2014/03/24/...-late-on-2611/
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    Council Member davidbfpo's Avatar
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    Default Look inside the book

    The author of 'National Security and Intelligence Management, A new paradigm' V. Balachandran, has seen this thread and points out that the Introduction, Contents and more can be viewed on:http://www.amazon.in/National-Securi...der_818856950X

    Only ten items are on police(Internal security) while thirty-three are on intelligence and foreign security problems. Sixteen are on terrorism.
    davidbfpo

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    In July 2013 Ajit Doval was an Indian think tank director, now he is the new Indian government's national security advisor and so his speech on the prospects for Afghanistan become useful:http://www.vifindia.org/article/2013...ional-security

    Ajit Doval is a former Intelligence Bureau (IB) chief, till 2005. IB is the internal security agency, with a strong police emphasis, whereas external intelligence is the domain of RAW.

    Until early 2014 he blogged on his own website too:http://ajitdoval.blogspot.co.uk/ One expects watchers are re-reading his writings now.
    Last edited by davidbfpo; 06-04-2014 at 06:40 PM. Reason: Copied to here and amended
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    Default

    Thanks to a "lurker" for signposting this odd report on US-Indian cooperation to stop fighters from The Maldives, including a FAA-certified pilot, transiting India en route to ISIS:http://www.mumbaimirror.com/mumbai/c...w/51933993.cms
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  9. #9
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    Default Inda's not-so secret intelligence "war"

    A long article by Praveen Swami, on a serious mishap over an Indian agent based in Iran being abducted to Pakistan and now faces execution. He starts with:
    The implications of the questions raised by the Kulbhushan Jadhav case go far beyond Jadhav’s fate. It is time India reflects seriously on its expanding programme of covert action and its long-term consequences.
    Lots of snippets, especially on the absence of trade craft; I only quote one:
    Thirteen Indians are being held in Pakistan on espionage charges, and 30 Pakistanis are in Indian jails, but in not a single case has either country officially concerned itself with its agent’s fate.
    Link:http://www.frontline.in/the-nation/i...55129.ece#test
    Last edited by davidbfpo; 02-01-2018 at 02:56 PM. Reason: 25,184v
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    Default Moderator's pointer

    There are two reviews of a new book on the Indian-Pakistani intelligence relationship and wider issues on the Pakistani Military thread. See:http://council.smallwarsjournal.com/...777#post211777
    Last edited by davidbfpo; 07-07-2018 at 07:24 PM. Reason: 30,290v today
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  11. #11
    Council Member davidbfpo's Avatar
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    Default RAW to CIA: an Indian defector

    A puzzling article from an Indian newspaper: Rabinder Singh, spy who defected to US, is no more: Double agent lived his last years as a remorseful recluse. Just whether officialdom has encouraged this is a moot point. It certainly would discourage anyone else choosing that option. CIA "tradecraft" failures appear too (as they do in another post today).
    Link:https://www.firstpost.com/india/rabi...e-4688341.html
    davidbfpo

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    Default R&AW completed 50 years of its existence on September 21, 2018

    A commentary on RAW by a former, senior member and "lurker" here.
    Link:https://www.tribuneindia.com/news/co...cy/658199.html
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    Default Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI)

    This national investigative body is a mainly manned by the police and is one of the Indian intelligence agencies IIRC, handling CT investigations. This report sadly is an illustration how complex and mind-boggling India can be.
    Link:https://www.ozy.com/provocateurs/the...es-rogue/90330
    Last edited by davidbfpo; 11-09-2018 at 11:18 AM. Reason: 32,665v
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