Founding and establishing R&AW
After the intelligence failure of being unable to predict the Sino-Indian War of 1962 and the Operation Gibraltar of 1965, the Indian polity felt the need to establish a separate organisation for gathering intelligence for military purposes. Kao was handpicked by Jawaharlal Nehru himself, who knew him well, from his years as Nehru’s Head of Personal Security. On his return from Ghana, he was made the first director of the newly formed Aviation Research Centre at Charbatia, Odisha, that chiefly concentrated on TECHINT collection. The Sino-Indian War and the Indo-Pakistani War of 1965 caused the restructuring of the country’s intelligence apparatus, since real-time foreign intelligence had become a political necessity. The Intelligence Bureau of India (IB) was considered to have become something of a behemoth, and was bogged down by internal operations and politicisation.
In 1968, the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, who had then also begun tightening her grip on the Congress party, bifurcated the Intelligence Bureau to form the Research and Analysis Wing. The IB would be involved in domestic intelligence gathering, while the Research and Analysis Wing (R&AW) was created as India’s primary external intelligence agency. Its mandate was to monitor the world in general and South Asia in particular. Kao was chosen as the head of the new organization, with a rank of Secretary (Research) in the Cabinet Secretariat, a post that all R&AW Chiefs occupy. As its founder-chief, Kao was given the task of building up R&AW from scratch. He spent the next nine years as the head of the organisation. He took over R&AW at a time when things were beginning to hot up in the subcontinent. His tenure, which began in 1968, lasted for nearly a decade and marked the closest association that an Indian prime minister has ever had with the country’s intelligence chief. He had unlimited access to Indira Gandhi. She reposed complete faith in him.
Bangladesh liberation war period
Towards the end of the 1960s, when the problems in East Pakistan began to escalate, the meetings with Indira Gandhi became more and more frequent. Recalls long-time Kao associate Victor Longer: “Intelligence is the only government business that depends upon the spoken word. Sometimes you can understand signs and body language. Kao had that rapport with Mrs Gandhi.” The PMO’s inner group of Kashmiri advisors D.P. Dhar, P.N. Haksar and T.N. Kaul now had another Kashmiri, Kao, for company. While what transpired at the meetings can now only be a matter of conjecture, Kao’s own team, notably Shankaran Nair (former R&AW Director) and Girish Chandra Saxena (former R&AW Director and Jammu and Kashmir Governor), sized up the emerging scenario in what is now Bangladesh with precision. What was worked out was not just the larger picture but the little nuts and bolts—contingency plans and micro details. The idea of India training and equipping the freedom fighters of Mukti Bahini was evolved meticulously.
After Pakistan launched Operation Searchlight, R&AW played a highly important role in the Creation of Bangladesh. They gave arms and training support to the Mukti Bahini during the initial stages of the war. Amidst the mass killings and brutal rapes, Indian operatives would get into East Pakistan, arm the local population and capitalise on the frustrations brewing within. Ashok Raina, in his book “Inside R&AW”, writes: “Another R&AW assessment sent to the prime minister spelt out the need for surgical intervention for the reports that came in gave positive indications that Pakistan was preparing for war. R&AW received the green signal. R&AW established guerrilla training camps along the border and began to train an illegal army.”
According to Gunaratna, the Bangladesh operation took place in two phases: covert subversion and military intervention. “Phase one was coordinated by Kao and phase two by Manekshaw, both reporting directly to Indira Gandhi,” he said. During the 1971 war, intelligence was thorough enough that the Indian Air Force could bomb the room in which the East Pakistan Cabinet was in session. Naval commandos were able to blow every single Pakistani ship in the Chittagong harbour.
Kao maintained close connection with the new nation. In May 1975, Prime Minister Indira Gandhi sent him to Dhaka to warn Sheikh Mujibur Rahman of his impending assassination by some in his Army.
Legacy
Kao is a legend among the Indian and South Asian Intelligence community, for his creation of the R&AW as a formidable force in such a short time from its inception. He is also well regarded by his juniors. His influence was such that those who served under him during this time were affectionately called ‘Kaoboys’. Although the R&AW was established only in 1968, by the 1971 war, it had become a highly efficient and formidable force. Kao is credited to have, in only three years of R&AW’s existence, helped in bringing about the creation of a new nation.
Former chairman of Joint Intelligence Committee K.N. Daruwala has said:
“His contacts the world over, particularly in Asia—Afghanistan, Iran, China, you name it—were something else. He could move things with just one phone call. He was a team leader who rode out notorious inter-departmental and inter-service rivalries, which is commonplace in India.”
Today we end the life story of an untold legend. Readers must have enjoyed reading it. Please do share your feedback.
-Shikhar Swami