Research and Analysis Wing
What is the Research and Analysis Wing (R&AW)?
When was the Research and Analysis Wing (R&AW) established?
Who was the first chief of the Research and Analysis Wing (R&AW)?
How does the Research and Analysis Wing (R&AW) differ from India’s Intelligence Bureau (IB)?
How accurate are depictions of the Research and Analysis Wing (R&AW) in movies and TV shows?
How does India’s Research and Analysis Wing (R&AW) compare with the United States’ Central Intelligence Agency (CIA)?
Research and Analysis Wing (R&AW or RAW), India’s external intelligence agency, founded in 1968 following purported shortcomings in the country’s intelligence system during the 1962 Sino-Indian War and the 1965 India-Pakistan War. The agency is tasked with gathering foreign intelligence and has reportedly conducted covert operations abroad, particularly in countries such as China and Pakistan. Because R&AW is a necessarily secretive organization, many of its activities remain classified. Most publicly available information about the agency comes from media reports, expert analysis, or insider information.
Background
Rameshwar Nath Kao, the man behind R&AW, was a discreet but important figure in Indian intelligence. An officer in the foreign intelligence department of the Intelligence Bureau (IB), Kao was picked by Prime Minister Indira Gandhi in 1968 to build India’s first dedicated foreign intelligence agency from ground up. During the early years of R&AW, he recruited a diverse team from different Indian agencies, including the IB and the civil services, that later came to be called the “Kaoboys.” Kao is also regarded by some as the “architect of Bangladesh,” for his role in India’s covert efforts during the 1971 India-Pakistan War. Known for his mastery of disguise, he once reportedly posed as a betel-nut seller to warn Bangladeshi Pres. Mujibur Rahman of an impending coup attempt. Although he rarely appeared in public and left behind few written records, Kao is widely regarded as one of the central figures of India’s modern intelligence apparatus.
The 1960s were a crucial decade in the evolution of India’s intelligence apparatus. Until 1968 the Intelligence Bureau (IB) handled India’s domestic as well as foreign intelligence gathering. However, an impetus for change was provided by the 1962 Sino-Indian War, which led to Chinese territorial gains in the Aksai Chin region and exposed gaps in India’s ability to accurately assess Chinese military activity. India established the Special Frontier Force in 1962 and the Aviation Research Centre the following year to improve border operations and strengthen aerial reconnaissance, respectively. India also expanded its intelligence cooperation with the United States.
In 1965 India went to war with Pakistan over the disputed region of Kashmir for the second time since 1947. (To learn more, see India-Pakistan conflict) Although the Indian military fared better during the conflict, the war highlighted weaknesses in India’s ability to monitor Pakistan’s military buildup. Following these wars several government officials and politicians advocated for the creation of an agency dedicated to gathering foreign intelligence. After Indira Gandhi became the prime minister of India in 1966, she tasked Rameshwar Nath Kao, a senior IB officer, with forming such an agency modeled in part on the structure of the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency.
History and major operations
1968: Founding
R&AW was established on September 21, 1968, with Kao as its first chief. In its initial years the agency focused on building a professional cadre by recruiting personnel from multiple organizations, including the IB, military, and civil services. The IB’s role was streamlined to focus on domestic security and counterintelligence. R&AW also began establishing foreign stations, especially in South Asia, to lay the groundwork for gathering intelligence.
Since its creation, R&AW has been thought to have operated in many regions, including in Asia, Africa, Europe, and North America. Although many of its activities remain unconfirmed because of their classified nature, the following sections outline notable operations that have been widely attributed to the agency.
1970s: Bangladesh and Sikkim
R&AW played a crucial role during the 1971 India-Pakistan War, which resulted in East Pakistan becoming independent from West Pakistan, creating Bangladesh. R&AW reportedly provided intelligence and training to the East Pakistani guerrilla force called the Mukti Bahini (Bengali: “Liberation Force”) against the Pakistani military and coordinated resistance operations inside East Pakistan. It has also been reported that the agency provided the Indian military with key information about Pakistan’s battlefield plans, including Pakistan Air Force plans to launch air strikes on Indian Air Force bases, which led to Indian military successes and the eventual surrender of Pakistani troops. (For more context see Bangladesh Liberation War and 1971 India-Pakistan War.)
R&AW’s activities were also reported to be pivotal in India’s integration of Sikkim as a state in 1975. A few years after India gained independence in 1947, Sikkim became a protectorate of India, which was responsible for the Himalayan kingdom’s defense and external affairs. Although a majority of the country’s population preferred integration with India, Sikkim’s monarchy opposed it. In the early 1970s widespread protests against Sikkim’s monarchy broke out, and R&AW reportedly facilitated the spread of the agitations. Amid mounting unrest and political pressure, the authority of the chogyal, or monarch, waned, eventually paving the way for Sikkim’s merger with India as its 22nd state.
1980s: Sri Lanka
Several scholars have noted that from 1983 to 1987, during the initial phase of the Sri Lankan civil war, R&AW likely provided arms and training to several Sri Lankan Tamil militant groups, including the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), which advocated for a separate state for Sri Lankan Tamils, who faced discrimination in Sri Lanka. India’s support was influenced by geopolitical and domestic considerations, including the Sri Lankan government’s increasing closeness with the West and political leaders in the state of Tamil Nadu advocating support for Sri Lankan Tamils. However, India’s relationship with the LTTE deteriorated during the mid-1980s, as the group showed little to no interest in reaching a negotiated settlement to the crisis. India withdrew its backing after the declaration of the Indo–Sri Lanka Peace Accord in 1987 and the subsequent deployment of Indian troops in Sri Lanka under the Indian Peace-Keeping Force (IPKF), which was charged with stabilizing the region and disarming militant groups. Between 1987 and 1990, during the IPKF deployment, R&AW was believed to have worked with the Indian military and the Sri Lankan government to contain the LTTE. In 1988, when members of the People’s Liberation Organization of Tamil Eelam (a Tamil militant group distinct from the LTTE) attempted to overthrow the government of the Maldives, India deployed more than 1,000 troops to foil the attempted coup, with R&AW reportedly providing intelligence support.
1990s: Afghanistan, Kashmir, and Kargil
Some reports have indicated that R&AW supplied military and logistical aid to a few anti-Taliban mujahideen factions, including the Northern Alliance, in Afghanistan after the Taliban came to power in 1996. The agency is also believed to have launched a covert infiltration operation against Pakistan-based militant groups in the disputed region of Kashmir during the 1990s. It came under scrutiny following the Kargil War (1999), between India and Pakistan along the line of control demarcating the two countries. Although the agency reportedly provided relevant intelligence to Indian armed forces and conducted covert operations during the war, critics argued that it failed to provide adequate information about Pakistani troop movements and Pakistan’s infiltration of the Indian-administered region of Kashmir. The infiltration was detected by the Indian Army after local shepherds reported suspicious activity. The Kargil Review Committee, which was established shortly after the war to review the conflict, found that the Pakistani military infiltration “came as a complete and total surprise to the Indian Government, Army and intelligence agencies” and noted “gross inadequacies in the nation’s surveillance capability.” Based on the recommendation of the committee, India established the National Technical Research Organisation in 2004 to strengthen the country’s technical and communications intelligence.
2000s: Mumbai
In 2008 R&AW was blamed by critics for failing to anticipate the terrorist attacks on Mumbai in November that year. The R&AW chief Ashok Chaturvedi reportedly offered his resignation to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh for R&AW’s failure to prevent the attacks, in which 10 Lashkar-e-Taiba militants killed 166 people and injured about 300 others.
2010s–2020s: Cross-border and global operations
According to multiple reports, in 2013 R&AW’s intelligence helped Indian authorities capture Yasin Bhatkal, a senior member of the Indian Mujahideen, a group designated as a terrorist organization by India and several other countries. It also reportedly provided intelligence for the Indian military during the surgical strikes carried out by Indian armed forces against militant groups along the line of control in the Kashmir region in 2016 and the air strikes on what India identified as a Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM; a Pakistan-based Islamist militant group) camp in Balakot, Pakistan. The Balakot air strikes were conducted in response to the 2019 suicide bombing carried out by a JeM militant in Pulwama, Jammu and Kashmir, which killed about 40 Indian paramilitary personnel.
During the 2010s and ’20s India reportedly stepped up its monitoring of secessionist networks advocating for Khalistan, a proposed separate Sikh country that would include the Indian state of Punjab. In 2023 the government of Canada accused “agents of the government of India” of killing Sikh separatist Hardeep Singh Nijjar in British Columbia, and several reports noted that R&AW agents may have been involved. The Indian government denied the allegations. The agency has also been linked to operations against Sikh separatists in countries such as the United Kingdom and United States.
In 2025 R&AW reportedly provided intelligence that enabled the Indian military to launch missile strikes targeting militant groups in Pakistan under what was called Operation Sindoor. According to the government of India, Operation Sindoor was carried out in response to the terrorist attacks in the resort town of Pahalgam, Jammu and Kashmir, in April 2025, which killed more than 20 people.
Organization
R&AW was created by executive decision, instead of by a statute or an act. As a result, it is not under parliamentary oversight. It is part of the Cabinet Secretariat, which is the government’s top administrative coordinating body and is directly under the prime minister’s office. The head of R&AW is officially designated secretary (research) and reports directly to the prime minister of India.
- Date:
- September 21, 1968 - present
- Areas Of Involvement:
- intelligence
Although there is no official information on R&AW’s recruitment and training program, it has been reported that many officers are either deputed or recruited from the civil services, Indian armed forces, and other agencies. The agency reportedly maintains stations abroad in Indian missions, and officers posted abroad likely work under official or diplomatic cover in Indian embassies and consulates.
