Intelligence & National Security Discussion - July 2018
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- BRF Oldie
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Re: Intelligence & National Security Discussion - July 2018
Why is Sonia not prosecuted under OSA for gaining access to PMO files on Siachen, on the workings of the TSD & eventually for doing back-channel negotiations with the Pakis on Siachen demilitarization?
She was not even part of the CCS
Why is Shekhar Gupta not investigated for assisting Sonia in maligning COAS VKS & concocting a coup story? He also played his part in the dismantling of the TSD, for which he could be charged with treason
We go too easy on our mortal enemies
She was not even part of the CCS
Why is Shekhar Gupta not investigated for assisting Sonia in maligning COAS VKS & concocting a coup story? He also played his part in the dismantling of the TSD, for which he could be charged with treason
We go too easy on our mortal enemies
Re: Intelligence & National Security Discussion - July 2018
We had 10 years to find out what happened to TSD and caused its demise. Since this is not in the open I'm guessing those ghosts have been laid to rest and is considered not to revive the dead. From just what's available in the open source, TSD seemed to make some good impact and some might say it was a bit over ambitious in its mandate. An interesting few years indeed. TDS came, saw, and vanished.Prem Kumar wrote: He also played his part in the dismantling of the TSD, for which he could be charged with treason
We go too easy on our mortal enemies
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Re: Intelligence & National Security Discussion - July 2018
As Col Hunny Bakshi in his interviews said, TSD was sabotaged from the top and there was a mandate to "fix the Chief" (with an added bonus of uninterrupted Aman-ki-Asha once TSD is out of the way)
Its a miracle that many of the chaps survived and were not bumped off in "accidents"
Truly treasonous!
The sheer amount of access to classified files by the bar-waitress is mind-boggling. As I said above, we just have too much of a chalta-hai attitude & lack ruthlessness against our traitors
Its a miracle that many of the chaps survived and were not bumped off in "accidents"
Truly treasonous!
The sheer amount of access to classified files by the bar-waitress is mind-boggling. As I said above, we just have too much of a chalta-hai attitude & lack ruthlessness against our traitors
Re: Intelligence & National Security Discussion - July 2018
Col Hunny Bakshi in one of the podcast said that there was an attempt to dispose him off by planting a bomb at a restaurant he used to visit often. The restaurant was in back alleys and not the kind of place where terrorists would plant bombs for mass casualties.
Re: Intelligence & National Security Discussion - July 2018
Sorry guys what is TSD?!
Re: Intelligence & National Security Discussion - July 2018
In the aftermath of the 26/11 terror attack, the Indian Army realized it needed a new approach to combat terrorism. That's when it formed the Technical and Service Division (TSD) – a covert unit tasked with gathering intelligence and taking preemptive measures to prevent terrorist attacks. Colonel Munishwar Nath “Hunny” Bakshi was put in charge of the new unitCyrano wrote:Sorry guys what is TSD?!
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Technical ... in%20Delhi.
Re: Intelligence & National Security Discussion - July 2018
do we know if it was neighborhood terrorist or desi BIF of congi ecosystem? did it happen before 2014 or after?Thakur_B wrote:Col Hunny Bakshi in one of the podcast said that there was an attempt to dispose him off by planting a bomb at a restaurant he used to visit often. The restaurant was in back alleys and not the kind of place where terrorists would plant bombs for mass casualties.
Re: Intelligence & National Security Discussion - July 2018
Something else has taken it's place.Jay wrote:We had 10 years to find out what happened to TSD and caused its demise. Since this is not in the open I'm guessing those ghosts have been laid to rest and is considered not to revive the dead. From just what's available in the open source, TSD seemed to make some good impact and some might say it was a bit over ambitious in its mandate. An interesting few years indeed. TDS came, saw, and vanished.Prem Kumar wrote: He also played his part in the dismantling of the TSD, for which he could be charged with treason
We go too easy on our mortal enemies
Re: Intelligence & National Security Discussion - July 2018
Then it did not go to waste after all...that's the hope atleast.RoyG wrote:
Something else has taken it's place.
Re: Intelligence & National Security Discussion - July 2018
Alleged to be ISI working behind local terror / mafia syndicate. The name Hammam pops up.gakakkad wrote:do we know if it was neighborhood terrorist or desi BIF of congi ecosystem? did it happen before 2014 or after?Thakur_B wrote:Col Hunny Bakshi in one of the podcast said that there was an attempt to dispose him off by planting a bomb at a restaurant he used to visit often. The restaurant was in back alleys and not the kind of place where terrorists would plant bombs for mass casualties.
Re: Intelligence & National Security Discussion - July 2018
@4:03 - the interviewer says he was Vivek Raghuvanshi's employer
So who is this interviewer?
So who is this interviewer?
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- BRFite
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Re: Intelligence & National Security Discussion - July 2018
Exclusive: World's spy chiefs meet in secret conclave in Singapore - Reuters
SINGAPORE, June 4 (Reuters) - Senior officials from about two dozen of the world's major intelligence agencies held a secret meeting on the fringes of the Shangri-La Dialogue security meeting in Singapore this weekend, five people told Reuters.
Such meetings are organised by the Singapore government and have been discreetly held at a separate venue alongside the security summit for several years, they said. The meetings have not been previously reported.
The U.S. was represented by Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines, the head of her country's intelligence community, while China was among the other countries present, despite the tensions between the two superpowers.
Samant Goel, the head of India's overseas intelligence gathering agency, the Research and Analysis Wing, also attended, an Indian source said.
Re: Intelligence & National Security Discussion - July 2018
That would be a very strange 6D chess type of discussion ![Smile :)](./images/smilies/smile.gif)
![Smile :)](./images/smilies/smile.gif)
Re: Intelligence & National Security Discussion - July 2018
https://www.outlookindia.com/national/c ... ated_storyRakesh wrote:How does Vivek Raghuvanshi - a defence reporter - get his hands on classified information?
https://twitter.com/alpha_defense/statu ... 17601?s=20 ---> CBI files case against Vivek Raghuvanshi, a defence journalist under Officials Secrets Act (OSA) on allegations of sharing classified information about DRDO, Defence Projects & armed forces with foreign countries. Multiple raids in Jaipur and NCR. Reported By: @IndiaToday
It says raids in 12 locations in Rajasthan and NCR.
And says VR communicated with foreign intelligence agencies to supply details for monetary gains.
Note it included details of talks with 'friendly' countries.
Most likely UK or US tipped off what was going on.
My only gripe is we never see CBI prosecuting anyone for espionage.
The investigations and leaks muddy the case quite badly such that judges let off the accused and give sermons to CBI.
Re: Intelligence & National Security Discussion - July 2018
India's Secret Hacking Industry
It's better we never know but even if half of what's written is true then it is quite the surprise.The company charged twenty-five hundred dollars for a month of work by a single hacker, and the presentation said that it had taken less than two weeks for Appin to obtain confidential e-mails and photographs confirming a husband’s suspicion that his wife had cheated on him (“even though she was using an updated Norton 360 antivirus”). Other cases were more complicated: the company said that it had taken forty-seven days to unearth evidence of money laundering and criminal contacts from the e-mail account of a chief executive in Russia. Appin’s slides said that its clients included the Indian Army and the Indian Ministry of Defense.
Re: Intelligence & National Security Discussion - July 2018
https://www.msn.com/en-in/news/other/ba ... 1fda7&ei=8
Based on fake Army papers, 1,000 DLs issued in Gujarat to J&K residents
extracted
Based on fake Army papers, 1,000 DLs issued in Gujarat to J&K residents
extracted
Trivedi said the duo would make fake defence driving books, confirmation letters, service certificates and canteen cards which would be submitted online to the RTO. Once the application was submitted, they used to skirt the process of personal verification with the connivance of RTO officials. Once such a driving licence was issued, the two would pick it up and dispatch it to J&K.
Trivedi said after about a month, their contact in J&K would inform them about a regiment stationed there and they would forge an NOC purportedly from the RTO in Ahmedabad or Gandhinagar, for transfer of the licence to a J&K RTO. They would charge between Rs 6,000 and Rs 8,000 for each, collecting payments through digital platforms. To make the forged stamps, they bought a stamp-making machine online. They used information from stamps of Army personnel to make their own stamps.
Trivedi said these licences when transferred to J&K were used to enable free movement in cantonment areas.
Re: Intelligence & National Security Discussion - July 2018
Forging Identity documents is a huge threat to national security. There is a thriving industry in forging paperwork to get Aadhar, driving license, passport etc., especially for Bangladeshi and Pakistani infiltrators. Modi government should take note of this and enable 10 year minimum jail term for anyone found facilitating this, including officials in RTO, passport office and Aadhar centers.
Re: Intelligence & National Security Discussion - July 2018
Ravi Sinha 1988 IPS batch new R&AW chief. Was in charge of operations division and a techie.
Re: Intelligence & National Security Discussion - July 2018
https://www.hindustantimes.com/cities/m ... 46133.html
Honey-trapped DRDO scientist shared details of India’s missile, drone programmes
extracted
Honey-trapped DRDO scientist shared details of India’s missile, drone programmes
extracted
discussionsshared sensitive details about India’s missile, drone and robotics programmes with a female Pakistan-based intelligence operative.
In its charge sheet, submitted to a special court on June 30, ATS claimed to have unearthed “explosive” chats between the scientist and the Pakistani operative. Kurulkar, 60, was director, research and development, at DRDO when he shared this information with the woman “in order to establish intimate relations with her”, said the charge sheet accessed by HT.
charge sheetIt went on to say that the alleged Pakistani agent created multiple fake accounts under different names to engage with Kurulkar. Two of these names were Zara Dasgupta and Juhi Arora. The same operative also set up accounts under these names on messaging apps using two different phone numbers. Both numbers started with the +44 London code. In his messages with the alleged Zara Dasgupta, Kurulkar spoke freely about the Meteor missile which is in the works at DRDO, about the Brahmos missiles, Rafael, Akash and Astra missile systems, and also the Agni-6 missile launcher in the development of which he was involved.
Possibly in his efforts to impress his female interlocutor, Kurulkar also discussed DRDO’s ongoing work on the Unmanned Combat Aerial Vehicle, the Bharat Quadcopter, and Rustom, the medium altitude long-endurance unmanned combat air vehicle that DRDO is developing. According to the chats attached in the charge sheet, Kurulkar and the Pakistani operative would preface these serious conversations on defence issues with a playful “Babe”.
The charge sheet also contended that Kurulkar, who is married to a doctor, liked to brag about his work. In one of the chats attached in the 1,837-page charge sheet, the female Pakistani operative asked him whether the Agni-6 launcher test has been successful, to which he responded saying: “The launcher is my design babe… It was a great success.” These chats between Kurulkar and the alleged Pakistani operative date between September 2022 and February 2023. It was sometime in March this year that DRDO informed the Maharashtra ATS about its suspicions about Kurulkar’s activities and he was subsequently arrested.
Re: Intelligence & National Security Discussion - July 2018
Wig,
ISI has its tentacles everywhere. I liken it to the GRU which was still alive and kicking despite the Soviet break up. The Chinese and others are probably paying good money to them to get info. Agni VI is imp project bc it’s all composite MIRV class and perhaps overkill for pakis but aimed at China.
ISI has its tentacles everywhere. I liken it to the GRU which was still alive and kicking despite the Soviet break up. The Chinese and others are probably paying good money to them to get info. Agni VI is imp project bc it’s all composite MIRV class and perhaps overkill for pakis but aimed at China.
Re: Intelligence & National Security Discussion - July 2018
It would be good if such all-composite tech could bleed over into ISRO launch vehicles, because the weight and payload mass-fraction of ISRO rockets are terrible. We are the worst of any major launch provider.RoyG wrote: ↑09 Jul 2023 17:57 Wig,
ISI has its tentacles everywhere. I liken it to the GRU which was still alive and kicking despite the Soviet break up. The Chinese and others are probably paying good money to them to get info. Agni VI is imp project bc it’s all composite MIRV class and perhaps overkill for pakis but aimed at China.
Re: Intelligence & National Security Discussion - July 2018
Idk. One thing I can say is this guy was careful on what he disclosed online so I don’t think the damage was big . Something caught my eye in one of the chats - he said that he could not disclose some of the technical details of the Brahmins unless she come to see him in India as they are highly classified. The only thing that is worrisome is that I believe I read that he took some trips abroad. The other thing that is worrisome is this guy was given training on avoiding and flagging these types of fishing operations.sanman wrote: ↑09 Jul 2023 18:34It would be good if such all-composite tech could bleed over into ISRO launch vehicles, because the weight and payload mass-fraction of ISRO rockets are terrible. We are the worst of any major launch provider.RoyG wrote: ↑09 Jul 2023 17:57 Wig,
ISI has its tentacles everywhere. I liken it to the GRU which was still alive and kicking despite the Soviet break up. The Chinese and others are probably paying good money to them to get info. Agni VI is imp project bc it’s all composite MIRV class and perhaps overkill for pakis but aimed at China.
But a sophisticated operation like this already gave the ISI some good leads on who next to approach and which locations to target.
Re: Intelligence & National Security Discussion - July 2018
Quite true. The ISI seems to be functioning on its own apparently has sources of funding from narcotics, drug smuggling , counterfeit currency and even "killers" for hire ., hit squads apparently working independently [?] .. this snake has to be de fanged and culled at every opportunity. The Mossad would definitely be interested in that option. RaW is on it ., the less we hear and more we see its effectiveness.RoyG wrote: ↑09 Jul 2023 17:57 Wig,
ISI has its tentacles everywhere. I liken it to the GRU which was still alive and kicking despite the Soviet break up. The Chinese and others are probably paying good money to them to get info. Agni VI is imp project bc it’s all composite MIRV class and perhaps overkill for pakis but aimed at China.
Re: Intelligence & National Security Discussion - July 2018
How do you hand over someone else’s laptop? They are covering up the damage. Most likely divulged embarrassing details about the organization that they don’t want revealed. I had stated earlier that the ISI most likely hit a goldmine in terms of reaching other personnel and creating moles to ferret out information.
Re: Intelligence & National Security Discussion - July 2018
and here is another fairy tale.....
does anyone here still believe that this lady (paki) fell in love with this man (aam aadmi Indian, and that too, while playing PUBG), crossed three international borders without visas, and made it to noida with four brats in tow
not a kacchi khiladi for sure
The "5th class pass" lady apparently speaks 4 languages, and her presence of mind, her clarity, logic and presentation skills would put many a news anchor to shame
the guy makes Rs13K per month working as an employee in a mofussil kirana shop, and he not only looks the part but he also comes across unmistakably as the choice from central casting.
Just don't see the connection or even the attraction
![Image](https://pbs.twimg.com/media/F0vyzh5aQAADg9w?format=jpg&name=large)
![Image](https://images.news18.com/punjabi/uploads/2023/07/Pakistani-Seema-Haider-16891447873x2.jpg)
does anyone here still believe that this lady (paki) fell in love with this man (aam aadmi Indian, and that too, while playing PUBG), crossed three international borders without visas, and made it to noida with four brats in tow
not a kacchi khiladi for sure
The "5th class pass" lady apparently speaks 4 languages, and her presence of mind, her clarity, logic and presentation skills would put many a news anchor to shame
the guy makes Rs13K per month working as an employee in a mofussil kirana shop, and he not only looks the part but he also comes across unmistakably as the choice from central casting.
Just don't see the connection or even the attraction
![Image](https://images.news18.com/punjabi/uploads/2023/07/Pakistani-Seema-Haider-16891447873x2.jpg)
Re: Intelligence & National Security Discussion - July 2018
Chetak,
With new details emerging it’s possible she could be an “illegal”. I didn’t know she was caught because of the lawyer. Had it not been for him she would have been a free bird. Not only that she has 4 kids. They could all be trained overtime from childhood to infiltrate the military, bureaucracy, scientific establishment, etc. Possibly many like her in India and they can be trained outside the official intelligence training academies in pakistan.
If this turns out to be true this will be a prized catch. Extremely rare to catch this type of operative because their background is scrubbed so well and they are so highly trained.
With new details emerging it’s possible she could be an “illegal”. I didn’t know she was caught because of the lawyer. Had it not been for him she would have been a free bird. Not only that she has 4 kids. They could all be trained overtime from childhood to infiltrate the military, bureaucracy, scientific establishment, etc. Possibly many like her in India and they can be trained outside the official intelligence training academies in pakistan.
If this turns out to be true this will be a prized catch. Extremely rare to catch this type of operative because their background is scrubbed so well and they are so highly trained.
Re: Intelligence & National Security Discussion - July 2018
https://twitter.com/oulosP/status/16950 ... 86609?s=20 ---> Indian PM Narendra Modi in Athens announced that the intelligence services of Greece and India will begin preliminary cooperation.
![Image](https://pbs.twimg.com/media/F4XlYscWEAAo0kl?format=jpg&name=large)
Re: Intelligence & National Security Discussion - July 2018
Is R&AW the new Mossad ? India’s image turns from ‘soft State’ to hard under Modi and Doval
The new ‘hard State’ label is a byproduct of National Security Adviser (NSA) Ajit Doval’s ‘defensive offence’ doctrine, in which you go and attack the place where the offence is coming from. As NSA, he set his doctrine into motion with a terse but eloquent warning to Pakistan: “You do one more Mumbai, you lose Balochistan.”
And from the beginning of Narendra Modi’s prime ministership, we have witnessed defensive offence in motion. The 2015 Myanmar cross-border operation against Naga militants, the 2016 post-Uri attack surgical strike across the LoC, and Balakot airstrike of 2019 after the Pulwama terror attack were a dramatic departure from India’s former policy of masochistic restraint.
India even took China by surprise by digging its heels in Doklam and returning its murderous aggression at Galwan and Pangong Tso with bloodier reprisals.
India has adopted the strategy of unpredictable action, letting go of its predictable passivity in external and internal security matters. When one responds with unpredictable force and timing to enemy action, the adversary must think ten times before launching the next attack. Interestingly, not a single casualty in terrorist attacks has happened outside conflict zones since Modi took over in 2014.
But lately, another angle has been added to India’s response to external threats. The smell — rightly or mistakenly — of covert action.
Since 2019 and especially in the last 24 months, over a dozen of India’s avowed enemies have been killed in their safe havens overseas.
It could be sheer coincidence. Pakistan, for instance, is going through a period of political and economic chaos so unsettling that rival gangs, on the loose because of an absent government, could be killing each other.
But the sheer number of eliminations makes people wonder whether India has embarked on a Mossad-like ‘Wrath of God’ mission which saw Israeli intelligence getting rid of the 1972 Munich terrorists one by one.
Let us see what has happened to India’s most wanted terrorist since 2019 in their overseas ‘safe havens’.
1. Hardeep Singh Nijjar was killed near a gurdwara in Surrey, Canada, by two unknown assailants in June 2023. India had designated him as a wanted terrorist, NIA had a Rs10 lakh reward for info on him, and Interpol had issued a red corner alert. He had entered Canada illegally with a fake passport.
2. Rayaz Ahmed alias Abu Qasim was shot dead in a mosque in PoK in September 2023.
3. Maulana Masood Azhar reportedly escaped a massive blast in 2019 at the madrassa he was hiding in Peshawar. However, the most-wanted terrorist has had no public appearance since then, triggering speculation on whether he is dead.
4. Bashir Ahmed Peer of Hizbul Mujahideen was shot dead at point-blank range in Rawalpindi in February 2023.
5. Al Badr commander Syed Khalid Raza was killed by a single shot in the head in Karachi in February 2023.
6. Khalistani extremist Avtar Singh Khanda, who targeted the Indian mission in the UK, died of “unknown causes” at a Birmingham hospital in June 2023.
7. Aijaz Ahmad Ahangar, a Kashmiri terrorist functioning as a top commander of ISIS, was reportedly killed in Afghanistan’s Kunar province in February 2023.
8. Jaish-e-Mohammed’s Mistry Zahoor Ibrahim, one of the IC-814 hijackers who had slit passenger Rupin Katyal’s throat, was shot dead in Karachi in March 2022.
9. Khalistan Commando Force’s Paramjit Singh Panjwar was shot dead in Lahore by two gunmen in May 2023.
Lal Mohammed, a suspected ISI operative involved in pushing fake currency into India, was chased and shot dead on the outskirts of Kathmandu last year.
10. Khalistani terrorist Harwinder Rinda mysteriously dies in Lahore hospital in November 2022, reportedly of a drug overdose.
A day later, Khalistani terrorist and Rinda’s aide Happy Sanghera was killed in Italy.
11. Within 24 hours, Khalistani terrorist Kulwinderjit Singh Khanpuria was likely brought from Bangkok, arrest was shown in Delhi.
12. In June 2021, a powerful blast rocks the neighbourhood of UN-designated global terrorist Hafiz Saeed, founder of Lashkar-e-Toiba.
Earlier, his Talha Saeed was injured in a blast in Lahore.
Less than a decade ago, I had asked the then Intelligence Bureau chief if India sends its spy squads on covert kill missions. And if it did, why didn’t it wear it on its sleeves like Israel ?
Sipping tea on the lawns of his Lutyens’ bungalow, he had said: “Indians are culturally not yet really for such action.”
that was true then has been inverted in the last eight or nine years. Raucous Indians greeted Trudeau’s tirade as an official stamp on what they suspected: that under Modi and Doval, India has shed its security shyness.
It is impossible to say if India was behind the 15 attacks and kills I have listed in this piece. But a perception of India as a hard, unforgiving State has slowly crystallised globally despite our firm denials.
A person at the topmost tiers of India’s security establishment had once told me that by radicalising and keeping its vast population impoverished, Pakistan has made it cheap and easy for India to hit it at will.
“We can hire hitmen from any lane in Lahore, Karachi, or Peshawar for as little as Rs 10,000 to do mischief inside Pakistan. They have to spend crores on indoctrinating, training and exporting terrorists into India,” he said.
Any country that harbours terrorists and terror sympathisers in its backyard unwittingly creates a vicious ecosystem like Pakistan which one day turns on its host.
Canada under Justin Trudeau has much to fear and learn from that chilling hiring prophecy.
Re: Intelligence & National Security Discussion - July 2018
UK deep state crying
Financial Times
India’s foreign spy agency drawn out of the shadows by Canadian allegations
Financial Times
India’s foreign spy agency drawn out of the shadows by Canadian allegations
India’s spy agency dubbed it Operation Hornet. As Abdul Khan went into his house in Lahore, Pakistan in June 1987, he was gunned down by two men on a motorcycle. The hit against the London-based Pakistani national was the result of months of planning by India’s foreign intelligence service the Research & Analysis Wing, according to a history of the agency by Indian journalist Yatish Yadav.
But the agency, which is known as the R&AW, suspected Khan of sheltering extremists in Europe and waited for him to leave England on a trip to his hometown before it struck. “The key point is that R&AW had been unwilling to take its operations into the west,” said Walter Ladwig, an expert on South Asian security at the Royal United Services Institute think-tank in London.
That calculus may now have changed. Canada’s prime minister Justin Trudeau said on Monday authorities were investigating whether “agents of New Delhi were behind the slaying of Sikh activist Hardeep Singh Nijjar in a Vancouver suburb in June.
If the “credible allegations” Trudeau cited for the explosive claim are shown to be true, it would mark a radical expansion of the Indian security apparatus, and one with far greater implications for its relations with western allies.
Analysts said the R&AW, which has supported insurgencies in Sri Lanka and Myanmar and aided guerrillas who fought for the creation of Bangladesh in 1971, has the capability to conduct an assassination in Canada. The question is if it had the intent.
“If you think India is beyond using covert action on western soil for whatever reason, please rethink — seriously,” said Avinash Paliwal, a reader in international relations at Soas University of London who has written about the agency’s operations in India’s near abroad.
“India might just be, or is, the new Israel,” he added, referring to Israel’s security services, which have undertaken covert operations including assassinations abroad.
More recently, under Modi’s Hindu nationalist government, the agency is believed to have shared intelligence with Israel’s secret service Mossad about radical Islamist groups, while adopting a more aggressive approach to counter-terrorism.
That reorientation has extended to operations abroad, particularly Pakistan, under what former Indian spymaster AS Dulat described in his recent memoir as the “Doval doctrine”, named after Ajit Doval, Modi’s powerful national security adviser.
Critics of the agency, including some former spies, also say it operates without sufficient civilian oversight. RK Yadav, a former R&AW officer, argued in his 2014 memoir that the intelligence service needed to be held accountable to the Indian parliament, alleging that it was rife with corruption. An assassination on Canadian soil, if confirmed, would mark a step change in the R&AW’s audacity.
Re: Intelligence & National Security Discussion - July 2018
‘The new Mossad ?’ Canada murder has thrown a spotlight on India’s spy network
In the spring of 1993, bomb blasts in 12 locations across Mumbai killed 257 people and injured more than a thousand. The perpetrators, members of the underworld in collaboration with Pakistani intelligence, were sheltering in Pakistan. As Mumbai reeled from the bloodshed, the leader of India’s external intelligence agency, the Research and Analysis Wing (R&AW), prepared to strike back. For years, the agency had been infiltrating trained agents into Pakistan to serve as long-term moles. The R&AW station chief, with his sophisticated network of agents, knew exactly where the militants were.
But when the order came from the prime minister, it simply said track and report. The strike never came.
Over the decades since the R&AW was formed in 1968 by the prime minister Indira Gandhi, such political reluctance has caused much frustration within its ranks but has also helped the agency to maintain a low profile compared with other more ostensibly aggressive foreign intelligence services.
Last week, however, it was thrust into the global spotlight when the Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau said there were credible reasons to believe that Indian agents were behind a murder in a suburb of Vancouver this summer.
Hardeep Singh Nijjar, an Indian-Canadian who had vocally campaigned for Sikh separatism and was wanted under India’s Prevention of Terrorism Act 2002, was ambushed by two masked gunmen in a car park outside his temple in Surrey, British Columbia, on June 18.
Delhi has vociferously denied the claims, calling them “absurd”, but the case has stoked curiosity about the R&AW, its methods and its goals. What is the truth about India’s external intelligence agency ? Is it the relatively benign organisation that its innocuous name suggests or a well-oiled killing machine hunting down the country’s enemies beyond its borders like Israel’s Mossad ? I believe that the truth lies somewhere in between, in the shades of grey where the agency operates.
Within India’s troubled history, the R&AW has operated according to the beliefs and policies of the country’s political leaders. After independence from British rule in 1947, Jawaharlal Nehru, India’s first prime minister, refused to create a dedicated foreign intelligence agency, put off by bitter colonial experiences and a quest for principled foreign policy.
His daughter and successor, Indira Gandhi, felt that this obstructionist attitude blinded India to security threats. In September 1968 she created the R&AW by executive order, making it responsible for producing strategic intelligence and maintaining influence in neighbouring countries, particularly Pakistan. During her two tenures, and that of her son Rajiv Gandhi, the agency received active political patronage. Yet it has never had a legal charter of duties. Consequently, the agency’s remit depends on the beliefs and policies of whoever is prime minister.
Some leaders sought to limit the agency’s operations; others had a more neutral attitude. Modi, since becoming prime minister in 2014, has actively backed the agency in its fight against security threats to India.
Despite their differences, all these politicians were opposed to assassinations. As a result, the agency, frustrated with the restrictions, became innovative, infiltrating and manoeuvring among criminal groups linked to terrorist organisations, working to divide and rule in order to — deniably — eliminate their enemies. The key factor behind these covert killings, though, has always been that the agency would never be the actual perpetrators.
Overseas expansion of the R&AW’s networks was initially focused on military threats from Pakistan and China. They gradually adapted to cover the terrorist threats from separatist groups that sought to break up the world’s largest democracy.
By 1970 R&AW stations in India’s neighbouring states, as well as Paris, Bonn, Istanbul, Hanoi, Phnom Penh, Mauritius, Fiji, and Trinidad, were monitoring military developments concerning Pakistan and China.
As state-sponsored terrorism in Punjab and Kashmir and the threat of the Tamil Tigers grew during the 1980s, R&AW spread its networks to North America, southeast Asia, Australia, and the Gulf countries. Active support of separatism among the Sikh, Kashmiri, and Tamil diaspora pushed the R&AW’s expansion. However, operations were limited to monitoring and not killings.
As the threat from terrorist groups grew during the early 1990s, the Indian intelligence community was increasingly impressed by Israel’s success with targeted assassinations: Nazi war criminals and Egyptian weapons engineers shot dead, falling off balconies or poisoned, from Belgium to Brazil.
The agency’s enthusiasm was tempered by a lack of political backing. After it was stopped from striking back against the 1993 bombings, it started its infiltration of gangs. The doctrine, though not a written one, owes its origins to ancient Indian strategic thought. Deployable weapons include persuasion, bribery, dividing and conquering and, as a last resort, direct violence. Using the first three means, Indian intelligence has successfully managed several internal insurgencies, eventually co-opting separatist leaders into India’s mainstream democratic politics. The fourth option was always discouraged.
From the R&AW’s operational point of view, the divide and conquer policy was ideal in that it could result in the killing of their would-be targets without exposing the culpability of the agency. Since murders are the norm in these criminal environments, the agency only had to exploit this in their favour.
The R&AW has pursued this policy in neighbouring countries. The fake currency trade in Nepal help sustain terrorism in India and rival gangsters vying for control of the lucrative trade are engaged in tit-for-tat killings. Such gang wars have offered the R&AW deniable means of rupturing terrorism networks, which also does not always require political approval.
However, deadly incidents such as the terrorist attacks in Mumbai in 2008 in which 175 people died after a series of co-ordinated attacks by Lashkar-e-Taiba, a terrorist organisation from Pakistan, presented opportunities to question political reticence towards dedicated, targeted killings. Immediately afterwards, R&AW enhanced co-operation with Mossad to learn the requisite skills to conduct overseas assassinations. Yet this seemed like a knee-jerk reaction in the wake of a ghastly attack and produced no immediate results.
In 2014, when Modi appointed Ajit Doval (former chief of the Intelligence Bureau, India’s counterintelligence agency) as the national security adviser, his public reputation as the country’s James Bond stoked wild aspirations about India becoming the new Israel. Lost in this euphoria was the fact that Doval belonged to the intelligence culture that had successfully implemented the divide and conquer tactic in the past. Modi and Doval have operationally strengthened the R&AW through more staff and skills development. However, the answer to whether the old doctrine of exploiting divisions within the targets continues, or whether India has embraced a Mossad-style approach of direct involvement in overseas, targeted killings lies in the evidence that Canada allegedly holds.
If and when Canada releases credible evidence proving the R&AW’s involvement in the fatal shooting of Nijjar supporters of Modi will finally be able to rejoice that India is indeed the new Israel. The rest of the world is already busy recalibrating its thinking about the world’s most populous nation.
Re: Intelligence & National Security Discussion - July 2018
From the same author (Dheeraj Paramesha Chaya) as above article
Strategic Intelligence Analysis and Foreign Policy Surprises in Kautilya’s Arthashastra
Strategic Intelligence Analysis and Foreign Policy Surprises in Kautilya’s Arthashastra
Re: Intelligence & National Security Discussion - July 2018
I beg to differ.
Violence is not India's modus operandi.
Besides putting Canada in the dock for Khalistani terrorism and making them shut it down will be more impactful than a few dead terrorists.
I expect this incident will be like Balakote and lead to shutting down the major Khalistani network inside Canada.
Also, I am now convinced that Canada has no direct evidence. The clue is that they needed the US to provide "context!"
Who knows what they provided?
Violence is not India's modus operandi.
Besides putting Canada in the dock for Khalistani terrorism and making them shut it down will be more impactful than a few dead terrorists.
I expect this incident will be like Balakote and lead to shutting down the major Khalistani network inside Canada.
Also, I am now convinced that Canada has no direct evidence. The clue is that they needed the US to provide "context!"
Who knows what they provided?
Re: Intelligence & National Security Discussion - July 2018
Allow me to rearrange the post.
Himsa and Ahimsa are what we should be discussing. Himsa comes from "hims" = "to strike".
The question is at which "level". Physical, verbal, or mental. The most potent is at the mental - simply because we really cannot read minds. Note that Justin has been trapped because he operated at the physical and verbal level - there is proof.
So, how to deal with the "mental" dimension of threats? Simple.
Hum ghar mein ghus ke marenge: PM Modi on eliminating ... (2019)
Deterrence + action to support. The choice is up to the opponent (Justin, Blinken, the US amby to Canada, ......... whoever)
For sure, it is not "violence". No two ways about that.
RIP (irrelevant) Mohandas Gandhi.
It has nothing to do with "Canada". It has everything to do with a Colonial hangover. And, it is this hangover that Jaishankar is attempting to defeat when he said, at the UN, Bharat will challenge. "Canada", "Khalistani", etc are irrelevant. There is a broader cloud, that includes the UK, Australia, and indeed the EU.
"Violence" is a Western construct (to manage the savages, like "secular")(I have much to say about this, but l8r).
Himsa and Ahimsa are what we should be discussing. Himsa comes from "hims" = "to strike".
The question is at which "level". Physical, verbal, or mental. The most potent is at the mental - simply because we really cannot read minds. Note that Justin has been trapped because he operated at the physical and verbal level - there is proof.
So, how to deal with the "mental" dimension of threats? Simple.
Hum ghar mein ghus ke marenge: PM Modi on eliminating ... (2019)
Deterrence + action to support. The choice is up to the opponent (Justin, Blinken, the US amby to Canada, ......... whoever)
For sure, it is not "violence". No two ways about that.
RIP (irrelevant) Mohandas Gandhi.
Re: Intelligence & National Security Discussion - July 2018
Live.
In the first few minutes of this video Sanjay Dixit lists, by names, a number of extra judicial killings, all on foreign soil. That is a partial list.
In the first few minutes of this video Sanjay Dixit lists, by names, a number of extra judicial killings, all on foreign soil. That is a partial list.
Re: Intelligence & National Security Discussion - July 2018
I wonder if this is Modi’s luck that some idiot tries to attack India right before election cycle build up, galvanizing everyone against the enemy. Turdy actually gave a gift to GoI and now the Khalistan terror is out front and center
in Canada, exactly the opposite effect it was intended to have. And after Canadian Parliament’s Nazi ovation fiasco, Canada’s reputation is in tatters and Putin has lifetime supply of propaganda.
These bumbling idiots cannot vet their own citizens how can they do anything outside their borders 5eyes or without . Seems like Canada is completely infiltrated by Chinese and Khalistan gangs.
in Canada, exactly the opposite effect it was intended to have. And after Canadian Parliament’s Nazi ovation fiasco, Canada’s reputation is in tatters and Putin has lifetime supply of propaganda.
These bumbling idiots cannot vet their own citizens how can they do anything outside their borders 5eyes or without . Seems like Canada is completely infiltrated by Chinese and Khalistan gangs.
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Re: Intelligence & National Security Discussion - July 2018
I don’t think there is anything deep in this.
This is an administration that applauds a mass killer of Jews and Roma, in parliament. Because they are too naive to do a background check. Hell a European who was a young man in the war. The first thing one asks is ‘whose side were you on?” I do not think it was deliberate, even given the History of the Ukrainian SS division, the Galicia division and the record of admission into Canada. A Nazi tattoo apparently was sometimes sufficient proof of anti- communist fervour.
This has left a very deep distaste in many Canadians. I am also one.
This is an administration that applauds a mass killer of Jews and Roma, in parliament. Because they are too naive to do a background check. Hell a European who was a young man in the war. The first thing one asks is ‘whose side were you on?” I do not think it was deliberate, even given the History of the Ukrainian SS division, the Galicia division and the record of admission into Canada. A Nazi tattoo apparently was sometimes sufficient proof of anti- communist fervour.
This has left a very deep distaste in many Canadians. I am also one.
Re: Intelligence & National Security Discussion - July 2018
https://harshakakararticles.com/2023/09 ... sept-2023/
It has been almost two weeks after India was blamed for the killing of Nijjar but proof is yet to emerge. Canada is left almost alone, with some little whimpering from the US. On the contrary India is hitting back. My views.
India displaying its disdain for Canadian accusations was visible when the Canadian High Commissioner, Cameron Mckay, walked back to his car after being summoned by the MEA. His expressions said it all. He was in and out of the MEA in under 5 mins, without a formal escort, carrying a terse message of expelling of a Canadian diplomat. Further evidence of India ignoring Canada is that neither the foreign minister nor the PM bothered to comment on Canadian PM Justin Trudeau’s accusations, leaving it to the spokesperson of the MEA. India has firmly projected that it has no intention of participating in a sham Canadian investigation.
The west has limited options. It can neither insist nor sanction nor compel India to cooperate. It can only request. Even if India was responsible for the incident, they can never accuse it publicly as their methods of obtaining intelligence were illegal. There were no witnesses nor video inputs and none has thus far been arrested, implying that all evidence is conjecture and circumstantial, which will never stand scrutiny in a court of law.
Canada is in a fix. If its shares unethical snooping intelligence inputs, it can be taken to task for violating the Vienna convention. This can open doors for India as also other nations to adopt similar measures even against allies. If such unethical information is placed in public domain, can the US and its allies ever question China and Russia for similar unethical actions?
India stopping issuance of visas and confiscating property of Khalistanis’, mostly based in Canada, are adding to pressures on the Trudeau government. After all, many Indo-Canadians have families in India, whom they visit during the currently commencing festival season. All may not be Khalistani’s. With relations at an ebb, Trudeau’s government cannot request India to reconsider its decision. India’s next step would be to block OCI cards of suspected Khalistani’s. This will lock Khalistani’s in Canada itself segregating them from India.
The NIA is being tasked to block inflow and outflow of funds between Canada and Punjab from suspected Khalistani’s, reducing the influence of Canada based gangs in Punjab. India had wanted to do so for some time but was avoiding impacting diplomatic ties. Ottawa, by its accusations, provided this opportunity.
Canada, which failed to act on Indian dossiers as also Interpol’s Red Corner notices is now left twiddling its thumbs when India is acting on its own intelligence. When India shared intelligence on Khalistani actions, Canada claimed ‘intelligence is not evidence.’ Currently, all Canada has is ‘intelligence’ against India, aware India would not accept it on similar objections.
US cannot insist on India cooperating with the Canadian investigation. It knows that India can respond to future US actions of eliminating terrorists in multiple parts of the globe, over which India has maintained silence. India had earlier retaliated to US comments on its human rights by showing them the mirror, when Jaishankar stated in Washington, ‘we take up human rights issues when they arise in this country, especially when they pertain to our community.’
Other G7 nations, as also Canada’s five eye partners, Australia and New Zealand, are unwilling to be drawn into the controversy. Nations like Sri Lanka, whom Ottawa had earlier accused of genocide, now had an opportunity to hit back. Its foreign minister, Ali Sabry, stated, ‘Some terrorists have found safe haven in Canada. The Canadian PM has a way of just coming out with outrageous allegations without any supporting proof.’
Bangladesh also has a grudge against Canada, which refuses to repatriate, Noor Chowdhury, the killer of its first PM Sheikh Mujibur Rehman. Noor Chaudhury has been permitted to stay in Canada despite not being granted refugee status. The recent incident where a Nazi war criminal was applauded in the Canadian House of commons adds credence to Jaishankar’s comment that Canada is ‘home to terrorists, gangsters and war criminals.’
India’s response to Canada was summed up by Jaishankar when he stated on the UNGA platform, ‘Nor must we countenance that political convenience determines responses to terrorism, extremism, and violence. Similarly, respect for territorial integrity and non-interference in internal affairs cannot be exercises in cherry-picking.’ Canada was not named but the target was evident.
Whether India was involved or not is unknown nor will be proved. But the incident and India’s subsequent actions, including confiscating property has sent a clear message. Latest protests in Canada had just a handful of Sikhs present, as compared to hundreds earlier. Most present had their faces covered, fearing recognition. Many are aware that in case they protest, they could be prohibited from ever entering India. Khalistan leaders have moved into hiding and many are hiring personal protection services.
All western nations, including the US, UK and Australia, where sizeable Khalistani supporters reside will have to ensure that their activities do not cross a threshold. None can ever permit a repeat of San Francisco or London, where Indian diplomatic property was damaged. Canada has increased protection around Indian embassies and consulates fearing that any incident resulting in damage would push relations downhill faster than could be imagined. Any hope of India even considering cooperation would end.
Most countries around the globe, except Pakistan, are least concerned about Canadian claims. If the US was involved in a similar incident, international condemnation would have followed. The world believes in India and its philosophy. Nations are aware that Canada is a US lackey, with no standing on the global stage, and Washington, being a neighbour, will jump to its support. The world waits and watches what proof is provided by Canada. If it is unethical, then Russia and China would be amongst the first to exploit it. It would be difficult for the west to subsequently defend its actions.
The killing of a known terrorist, on whom the Trudeau government failed to act, despite proof, has opened a can of worms and will have far reaching global impact, in case unethical means were employed to obtain intelligence. Those involved in providing snooping intelligence to Canada are hesitant to own up fearing criticism and impacting ties with India. Canada, on its part, has only ‘intelligence’ (not evidence), no witnesses nor actionable proof. With such data it can never legally implicit India nor compel Delhi to cooperate. Ideally Canada should have maintained silence, investigated and then possibly discussed their findings with India. Now that Trudeau jumped the gun, Canada is in a bind.
Canadian politicians, including Jagmeet Singh of the NDP (New Democratic Party) are now shifting accusations of India interfering in Canadian politics by raising the anti-Khalistan and anti-Trudeau bogey in its own and global media. There is a demand that India should be included in the open inquiry currently underway of interference in Canadian elections. For India, this is of no concern. How Canadians view Indian response is their problem.
In the ultimate analysis Canada needs to take the first step to tone down its rhetoric. Canada must also re-visit its policies on freedom of speech and protests, restricting anti-India voices. Once this is visible, Indian could cooperate and restore ties. If both nations stick to their guns, relations will only move downhill.
Indian diaspora in Canada will lose touch with their homeland resulting in Trudeau losing political advantage. Canada would be impacted by the Indian government going slow on permitting its students further studies in Canada.
Apart from some support from the US, Canada has been left alone in its fight against India. This projects the limited utility of Canada in the current geopolitical arena. India has the ability to shoulder any impact from Canada but Ottawa has limited options. India is aware and hence refuses to simmer down. The faster Trudeau understands, the better for Canada.
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