Raw : A History Of India's Covert Operations

The Research and Analysis Wing, India’s shadowy external
intelligence agency, is one of the country’s least understood
institutions—at least in part by design. Perhaps fittingly for a
spy agency, there is very little information about R&AW in the
public domain. What is this organisation, its structure, its role
and vision? Why was it set up? Who are the people that run it?
Set up in 1968, as a reaction to India’s massive intelligence
failure during the war with China, R&AW played a crucial
role in the formation of Bangladesh. It has since carried out
highly successful covert operations in Fiji, Afghanistan and Sri
Lanka, and has countered and foiled Pakistani spy agency ISI’s
machinations in the subcontinent. R&AW has operations in
other parts of the globe too; it played an important role during
the Iran–Iraq war, for instance.
No country can increase its global reach without intelligence
support. That India has made enormous strides in its stature
and influence is testimony to R&AW’s success. Yet, public
accounts of its work exist only in highly romanticised fictional
stories. Investigative journalist Yatish Yadav follows the lives
of real agents and maps their actions in real situations. His
conversations with Indian spies provide insight into how
covert operations actually work. RAW: A History of India’s
Covert Operations is the first comprehensive account of Indian
spy networks and their intelligence gathering, and their role in
securing and advancing Indian interests.