About Research and Analysis Wing (RAW):
- It is India’s external intelligence agency.
- It plays a crucial role in counter-terrorism, counter-proliferation, cybersecurity, and monitoring threats from outside the country.
- It is headquartered in New Delhi.
- Formation:
- Until 1968, the Intelligence Bureau (IB), which is responsible for India’s internal intelligence, also handled external intelligence.
- However, after the 1962 China-India war and the Indo-Pakistani war in 1965, India established a separate and distinct external intelligence organization–the R&AW.
- Rameshwar Nath Kao was the first chief of R&AW.
- Since its inception, RAW is credited with providing intelligence support to many significant operations on foreign soil.
- Working mechanism:
- It collects military, economic, scientific, and political intelligence through covert and overt operations.
- The agency is also charged with monitoring terrorist elements and smuggling rings that transport weapons and ammunition into India.
- Indian officials rely on the intelligence collected by RAW to shift national security policy, revise foreign policy, and to influence international public opinion.
- Authority:
- It directly comes under the prime ministerial office of India.
- The Agency reports directly to the prime minister of India and not to anyone other than the PMO.
- Because R&AW is a necessarily secretive organization, many of its activities remain classified.
- The agency is not liable to answer any questions in the Parliament and the parliamentarians do not have the authority to raise questions on the funds which are allocated to the agency.
