ISSN: 2455-2631 April 2023 IJSDR | Volume 8 Issue 4
Role of Patriotism in Research & Analysis Wing
(R&AW).
1
Dr Ritendra Rathore, 2Karthick Y B.
1,2
Students
1
MA in Police Science & Social Studies, 2MSc Home Land Security
National Forensic Science University
Gandhinagar Gujarat India.
Abstract- Research & Analysis Wing is India’s external intelligence agency which has power to execute any covert operations
outside India. In the case, if any covert operations which R&AW would have to execute inside India, then it would be joint
venture with domestic agencies or intelligence wings. This paper is mainly focused on how Indian external agency (R&AW)
executes the operation and spying at the ground level. The impact of the operation kahuta which was executed in Pakistan
by R&AW and also other operations like operation Vidyarthi in New Delhi. By this paper, the author is trying to identify
the role of patriotism while executing any operations under R&AW. The cognitive abilities and training which plays pivotal
role but patriotism plays an extremely pivotal role to work under R&AW.
Introduction.
R&AW is the foreign intelligence agency of India. The agency’s primary function is gathering foreign intelligence, counter-
intelligence, counter -proliferation, advising Indian policy makers, advancing India’s foreign strategic interest.
The R&AW is Indian external intelligence agency which is mainly responsible for external and internal security of the nation but
R&AW is not entitled to execute any operation within India.
Objectives.
The primary objective of R&AW are…
=} Monitoring the political, military, economic and scientific developments in the countries which are directly related with India’s
national security and formulation of the foreign policy.
=} Moulding international public opinion (in case of Sikkim and Sir Lanka -Mahinda Rajapaksha’s govt) and influence the foreign
government.
=} Covert operations outside and also within India but along with other agencies for national safeguard.
=} Anti-Terror Operation (Failed In case of 26/11 Mumbai attack).
Historical Background.
Prior to inception of the research and analysis wings (R&AW), overseas intelligence collection was primarily the responsibility of
Indian intelligence Bureau which was created under the British Raj in 1923 in order to watch the activities of Indian freedom
fighters. Bhagat Singh and his fellow activists of the freedom struggle were monitored by Indian intelligence bureau which
eventually caught the freedom fighters. The kakori conspiracy’s suspects were also arrested by intelligence bureau of India (IB). At
the time of second world war, the intelligence bureau’s responsibilities were increased to include the collection of intelligence along
the borders.
After Indian independence in 1947, Sanjeev pillai took over as the first Indian director of Indian intelligence bureau. In 1949, Mr.
Pillai organised a small foreign intelligence operation which was commendable, but the Indian debacle in the Sino- Indian war of
1962 and the Indo-Pak war of 1965 proved to be a devastating turn for the agency, which led to the genesis of the concept of separate
foreign intelligence agency that had to be established around the end of 1966.
Under the administration of the Indira Gandhi (Former Prime Minister Of India), a full-fledged external-intelligence and security
service came into existence, Mr. Ramnath Kao, who served as deputy director of intelligence bureau, submitted the blue print for
this new agency. Mr. Ramnath Kao was appointed as first chief of India’s First Foreign Intelligence Agency which was called
Research And Analysis Wing (R&AW). The responsibility of R&AW is to gather strategic external intelligence which includes
Technical Intelligence (TECHNIT) and Human Intelligence (HUMINT).
The Organizational Structure Of Research & Analysis Wing, India.
R&AW (Research and analysis wing) directly comes under prime ministerial office of India. The Agency reports directly to prime
minister of India and not to anyone other than the PMO. The agency is not liable to answer any questions in the parliament of
India and the parliamentarians do not have the authority to raise questions on the funds which is allocated to agency.
Divisions of the R&AW, according to their areas-
Area – I: Pakistan Desk =} under joint secretary of this division.
Area – II: China & South Asia. =} Joint Secretary of this division.
Area – III: Middle East & Africa =} Joint Secretary of this division.
Area – IV: Other Countries =} Joint Secretary of this division.
IJSDR2304383 International Journal of Scientific Development and Research (IJSDR) www.ijsdr.org 2478
ISSN: 2455-2631 April 2023 IJSDR | Volume 8 Issue 4
=} Joint Secretary For the other two Divisions.
1) Electronic Technical Section.
2) Admin – Internal security.
This is the organisation structure of R&AW, which falls under the joint intelligence committee headed by secretary of R&AW,
the office of special operations and additional secretary also including the Director General Secretary (Aviation Research Centre
& Special Service Bureau)
Research Methods.
The qualitative analysis was conducted in order to get information about R&AW. The qualitative research on various failed
operations of R&AW was gathered as the failure of R&AW indicates success of the opposite party, govt or terrorist organisation,
hence only unsuccessful operations of R&AW would be disclosed as showing the success of the opposite party.
I have collected the information from various OSINT sources like newspapers, books, articles, journal and also former officers of
R&AW, which I have analysed and understood on the basis of qualitative based research.
I have even counted the opinions by crowd sourcing technique of those who are studying homeland security and also police study
from National Forensic Science University (NFSU), Gujarat, India.
NFSU Students Reviews based on Survey (Role of Patriotism in Secret Services)
Patriotism, defined as love, devotion and sense of selfless duty towards the nation is of leviathan essence when it comes to any
services, regardless of the uniformed or clandestine agencies. Rather, the degree of patriotism, which in itself is subjective, must be
on the higher end of the spectrum for the clandestine agencies as they operate under conditions of utmost hostility and plausible
deniability, under which no government or Nation state would protect their actions in an overt manner and if caught, they would
not just face the cruellest of punishments, but also do not possess any cushion to back into. Patriotism is of utmost importance
amongst the members of an organisation like the Research and Analysis Wing, as they operate under the garb of secrecy, yet do not
receive no overt support if things go south, yet are required to keep the entire security of this country at the optimal level. The
operatives are expected to make the supreme sacrifice if required, with possessing the entire knowledge that their sacrifice will
never be entered into the official history books of any country, their sacrifice would be acknowledged only behind closed doors and
not even their spouses and closest family members would ever be aware of their heroic deeds. In all this there is only one reason
that makes them take this course of action, simply put, it is patriotism. Hence, I would like to conclude by quoting a phrase that
captures the entire essence of this discussion, “Our obligations to our country never cease but with our lives.”, by John Adams.
Case Studies.
Operation In Pakistan.
The Operation Kahuta was executed in Pakistan, which exposed Pakistan’s secret nuclear mission to the world.
The ground reality was very harsh when Dr. A Q Khan was chief scientist in Pakistan’s secreat nuclear plant in kahuta region of
Pakistan.
Indian intelligence agent Mr. Amandeep Singh executed the entire operation to find out the exact location of the nuclear power of
Pakistan as rumours surrounding the existence of such nuclear stations in kahuta and quetta were floating around.
Mr. Amandeep Singh searched almost all the possible locations where the nuclear plant’s establishment is feasible to develop
nuclear arsenal.
Mr. Amandeep Singh’s father was called a traitor because of his involvement with Pakistan, but Mr Amandeep Singh was supremely
patriotic and trained under Mr Ramnath Kao. He adhered to his patriotism and started to conduct a research, he read many books
on nuclear physics and tried to understand what are the requirements for making a nuclear bombs and the effects of radiation
exposure to the human body.
One day he found the location where the nuclear power plant was established by the Pakistani Government in a clandestine manner.
He reached the power plant but unfortunately was not able to collect the physical evidences of the existence of that power plant.
Second day, he got an idea regarding the radiation exposure to human hair hence which could be used as evidence. There was only
one salon in the vicinity, he went and collected the hair samples of the people who worked in the nuclear power plant and sent that
sample to India in order to examine whether the samples were irradiated or not. Finally based on the test, it was proven that the
samples was highly irradiated.
This is how Mr Amandeep Singh exposed the secret nuclear power plant’s exact location in Pakistan. Later he was caught by
Pakistani intelligence and was killed very brutally. It was patriotism which led Mr. Amandeep Singh to go at any extent for India.
The patriotism would also lead to develop the cognitive abilities and also intelligence.
Operation In New Delhi with ATS. (Operation Vidhyarthi).
When an Afghan student came to study from Afghanistan in 2017, he took admission in IIT Delhi. In reality, he was an ISI agent
who came from Pakistan through Afghanistan. The R&AW put a watch on foreign inward and outward transactions from the various
banks. There was huge money transferred from Afghanistan into that student’s account. R&AW officials were alert and wondered
how someone could make a huge amount of transactions to student account? R&AW along with the ATS put that student on high
alert. After interception of his calls and emails, analysts came to know that something was highly suspicious. One day this student
talked over call regarding receiving the money and distribution of the same at the various parts of the Delhi, where another group
member of the same organisation were present. After deeply analysing each and every aspect, R&AW and ATS came to know about
the plans of a bomb blast in various parts of Delhi.
IJSDR2304383 International Journal of Scientific Development and Research (IJSDR) www.ijsdr.org 2479
ISSN: 2455-2631 April 2023 IJSDR | Volume 8 Issue 4
Immediately R&AW and ATS team approached Delhi police, asked them to join hands on this covert operation, but R&AW officials
demanded that a person who is either in training but not in service and whose age was in between 21- 22 was required to go
undercover as a student to infiltrate this plan. Finally, R&AW officials found a 21 years old young boy who was in training in Delhi
Police. Initially R&AW did not inform him regarding who they were and why they had approached him. After talking with him,
suddenly one of R&AW officials stated that they were from R&AW and that they planned to execute an operation to capture a
suspected terrorist who was a student in IIT Delhi, pursuing bachelors in mechanical engineering, and that they were going to enrol
him in same stream also that he had to build a cordial relation with the suspect and try to win over his trust as well as extract
Information from him.
After passing 3 months, this 21-year-old officer, grew very close to the Afghan student, one day he stated that he wanted to shift
to Kailash colony as IIT Delhi was very near and was hardly 5 to 6 metro stations far. But the 21 years officer advised him to shift
Lajpat Nagar instead of kailash Colony, then both agreed and went to find a flat (2BHK) in Lajpat Nagar, New Delhi. This officer
found one flat with rent of around ₹ 18,000 per month. Both agreed and within 2 days they shifted to this new flat.
After a month of staying together, one day the Afghan student asked the undercover cop to get help to arrange some chemicals
in large quantity. The 21-year-old officer informed R&AW about the chemical which he asked for. One of the R&AW Officials
was a chemical expert who had a PhD from JNU and was a researcher as well. The chemical expert had identified the chemicals
which could be used for making a bomb because as it was high explosive. The chemical was TATP (Tri Acetone Tri Peroxide)
which was untraceable and was previously used in London bomb blast which resulted in more than 1000 fatalities.
The chemical expert of the R&AW elaborated on everything about TATP. regarding its explosive power, melting point and
boiling point. It was highly explosive substance which could be ignited even with a slight spark. The Afghan student had asked to
arrange this chemical with detonators which meant that the explosive would be operable. This prompted the R&AW officials to
think about how to capture the Afghan student with this chemical? It posed high risk due to the high explosive characteristics of
TATP.
R&AW officials and ATS both plotted a plan in which the undercover officer only had to handover the detonator but not the
TATP. To acquire the TATP the Afghan student had to meet the alleged uncle of the undercover cop who would arrange it. One of
the officers was to deliver the parcel which contained TATP to the Afghan student in the presence of the 21-year-old officer
(student). The Afghan student was very happy and embraced him, then the 21-year-old student was asked to leave for some purpose
and he mentioned that he would be back within half an hour. Meanwhile his uncle would come with the detonator, so the Afghan
student was told to open the door and receive the parcel. As soon as he left the flat, all R&AW officials and ATS TEAM entered
inside the flat and arrested the Afghan student along with the physical evidences.
The purpose of mentioning this operation was to understand the level of patriotism of that 21-year-old officer, he was unaware
of anything and he was sleeping or staying with enemy for an extended period of time. Anything could have happened as he was in
the cave of death even if he played his role very well to execute this operation and was caught by the Afghan terrorist.
Hence proving patriotism is supreme and above all, patriotism which lead cognitive abilities, mental skills and abilities as well as
proving that anyone could go at any extent in the name of patriotism.
Operation In Sri-Lanka.
There was a covert operation conducted during October-November 2022, when one agent travelled to Colombo (capital of Sri-
Lanka) to collect information and decode the encrypted information from the on-ground agents who are working in Sri Lanka. He
had to travel to many places in Sri Lanka and worked around the clock to finish the work. The order was issued that he had to leave
the place as soon as he finished, as his identity had been leaked in 2019. Despite the agent’s will, he could not be a part of the
service.
He executed all his responsibilities in an excellent manner and efficiency He decoded all the information within the scheduled time
frame and returned to India via Mumbai.
Through this decoded information, R&AW prepared a report which mentioned about the terrorist activities, which would be
executed via Sri Lanka. The route originated from Pakistan, reach Afghanistan and from Afghanistan to Sri Lanka and from Sri
Lanka to India.
The role of the patriotism is to execute all such acts within time frame. Patriotism Is playing pivotal role to sustain the morale In
this kind of services as it is a 24/7 service and an agent has to work hard, day and night without and exhaustion and this is only
possible when the person is a true patriot.
Operation Happy Krishna.
This was the assigned code name of India’s first successful nuclear bomb test on 18 th may 1974. The bomb was detonated on the
army base, Pokhran Test Range (PTR), in Rajasthan by the Indian army and the Research and Analysis Wing (R&AW).
This operation was extremely difficult to execute as the entire bomb test site and project was under surveillance of satellites by the
CIA and ISI’s agents were physically monitoring the entire bomb test site at Pokhran. Hence the Indian scientists along with R&AW
officers were working day and night and it could have only been possible because of patriotism. Patriotism led them to work for
India relentlessly without any exhaustion.
Operation Meghdoot.
A perfect example of how keeping one’s eyes and ears open can save a number of lives. R&AW received a tip from a London –
based garment company that had supplied Arctic weather gear to the Indian troops for the Northern Ladakh region.
R&AW intercepted vital information that proved Pakistan was planning an incursion in Siachen glacier, later India eventually
dominated all the major peaks in Siachen.
IJSDR2304383 International Journal of Scientific Development and Research (IJSDR) www.ijsdr.org 2480
ISSN: 2455-2631 April 2023 IJSDR | Volume 8 Issue 4
Contemporary Developments and Changes In R&AW.
The contemporary changes are being seen in the organisation structure of R&AW. First major change was the budget allocation
for research and analysis wing (R&AW), R&AW started as a wing of the main intelligence bureau with 250 employees and an
annual budget of ₹20 million (US$ 250, 467.10). In early seventies, its annual budget had risen to ₹300 million (US$ 3.8 MILLION)
while its personnel numbered seven thousand.
In 2007, the budget of R&AW was suspected to be as high as US$ 150 MILLION TO AS LOW AS US$ 100 MILLION.
Other agencies were also developed along with R&AW which were Radio Research Centre and the Electronic & Tech Service. In
1971 , Kao pursued the government to set up the Aviation Research Centre (ARC)
In 1977, R&AW’s operations and staffs were dramatically cut under the premiership of Morarji Desai, which hurt the
capabilities of the Organization with the shutting of entire section of R&AW like it’s information Division. Mr. Kao resigned
because Mr Morarji Desai who considered the agency to be a private jassos or espionage agency of former prime minister Ms Indira
Gandhi. This brought major changes during operation kahuta in Pakistan when R&AW’s field officers were worked without higher
authority as Mr Kao had resigned from his post. However, with a low budget and inadequate staff, operation kahuta was going on
but it failed because Of Former Prime Minister Morarji Desai as he informed Zia -UL -Haq about kahuta’s nuclear power plant.
Immediately Pakistan’s intelligence and army took actions and captured almost all R&AW agents and executed them.
In 2004 Government Of India added yet another signal intelligence agency called the National Technical Facilities Organisation
(NTFO), which was later renamed as National Technical Research Organisation (NTRO). Its believed that it’s deals with research
on imagery and communications using various platforms.
The Functions & Methods.
The primary mission of R&AW includes intelligence collection via HUMINT, subversion, sabotage.
R&AW has been active in obtaining information and operating through third countries. R&AW Offices abroad have a limited
strength and are largely geared to collect military, economic, scientific and political intelligence. R&AW monitors the activities of
certain organizations abroad only insofar as they relate to their involvement with narco terrorist elements with smuggling arms,
ammunition, explosives etc into India but it does not monitor the activities of criminal elements abroad which are not linked with
terrorist elements.
R&AW officers are as posted to Indian diplomatic mission under official cover as diplomats, frequently in the consular wing.
The relation between R&AW and ministry of external affairs is very unstable because they “ INHABIT DIFFERENT WORLDS”.
Conclusion.
The purpose of this research paper is understanding how Patriotism led the people to go at any extents whenever they had to fight
against terrorists. When it comes to India, nation, Bharat maa, then a patriot will never have dual thoughts.
A true desh bhakt or patriotic person can go any extent like he can eat a food from garbage bin, he can sleep on the roadside and,
he can beg on the footpath. It is only because of Bharat maa, for India, for patriotism.
It's very difficult to work in R&AW, a R&AW officer doesn’t have to reveal anything regarding the operation as well as his
identity and about his part of R&AW even to their family members. Once they get captured by enemy they would have to pass
through severe torture that would be rather worse than death.
Here I would have to say that a 11-year-old kid was captured by ISIS, when he entered Pakistan from Jaisalmer border. He was
captured and was badly physically assaulted and tortured. After killing him, his dead body was thrown into the sewage sludge. In
his eyes, there was a huge nail, his teeth were broken, his nails were also defoliated, his private part was assaulted very badly.
This is the kind of torture these people would have to face if they get captured by enemies. For that the people who are associated
with Secret services, their patriotism makes these officers mentally and emotionally strong therefore Patriotism plays a pivotal role
in order to grow mentally and emotionally such a cognitive abilities and mental skills.
When we talk about R&AW, it is India’s most secret intelligence agency, very few people know about the existence of R&AW
and office of R&AW. But there is scope of improvement in the organisation of R&AW likewise R&AW is strong in low and
medium grade intelligence, weak in high grade intelligence. R&AW is strong in technical intelligence and weak in the human
intelligence. R&AW was strong in collection of information but very weak in analysis of the information which is also same as
strong in investigation and weak in prevention. Strong in crisis management and weak in crisis mitigation.
REFERENCES:
1. Book ‘Gentleman The Spymaster’ – R N Kao (Former Chief Of R& AW).
2. Book' Calling On Sehamat - Harinder Sikka.
3. Strengthening India’s external intelligence infrastructure – shantanu K Banasal
4. Unraveling India's Foreign Intelligence: The Origins and Evolution of the Research and Analysis Wing -
IJSDR2304383 International Journal of Scientific Development and Research (IJSDR) www.ijsdr.org 2481
