Intelligence

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Intelligence Sharing Need Of The Hour For Indian Army

  DIA needs R&AW, IB, NTRO, NIA & DRI

By Jai Kumar Verma

New Delhi. 15 January 2021. Internally, timely intelligence will save lives while in international arena it will help to chalk out foreign policy of the country including the decision whether to go for war or avoid it. The various terrorist activities in the country including the 2008 Mumbai attacks in which about 174 persons died while more than 300 were injured or Intelligence Bureau’s failure to know about Operation Gibraltar which resulted in 1965 India Pakistan war exposed the weaknesses of intelligence setup. The intelligence agencies also failed to assess about the real intentions of China when it attacked India in 1962 and more recently the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) soldiers attacked in Galwan valley in which our 20 valiant soldiers including a colonel were martyred. The latest Chinese attack in Ladakh area was at a large scale which needed lot of planning and preparation, but it appears that either detailed intelligence was lacking, or the political hierarchy refused to accept it.

‘Knowledge is power’ and timely intelligence helps government to formulate the policies. Nonetheless it may create friction between government and intelligence agencies if intelligence reports clash with the perceptions and desires of the politicians.

Although the intelligence reports help government to formulate state policies but sometimes the actions of intelligence agencies are against the laws of the land as well as in contradiction to international regulations. Now intelligence agencies launch ‘covert operations’ which may include overthrowing of lawful regimes or assassinations of uncomfortable political opponents or the dissidents.

The Baloch leaders allege that the Inter Services Intelligence (ISI) is involved in the murders of Baloch dissidents within Pakistan as well as abroad. They claim that the recent assassinations of Sajid Hussain in Sweden and Karima Baloch in Canada are the results of covert operations launched by ISI.

In olden days, the intelligence organisations were involved only in passive activities like collecting of information and converting it into intelligence and disseminating it to the consumers. Nevertheless, time has changed and now intelligence organisations are not only collecting intelligence but are also involved in building public opinion in favour of their country through the circulation of information and spreading of disinformation. Intelligence organisations win over political leaders, intellectuals, journalists, and persons of eminence which build public opinion for their country. The intelligence agencies of few countries, with hefty budgets, especially of dictators and military regimes, several times are involved in ‘black operations’ and these operations also involve ethical issues.

The intelligence organisations also penetrate undercover agents in criminal outfits including drug cartels, gangs of arms smugglers and human traffickers. In view of the enhanced activities of terrorist organisations, now intelligence organisations are paying more attention on the coverage of the activities of terrorist outfits.

In view of the enhanced importance of intelligence and after Pakistan’s attack on Kargil in 1999 the Defence Intelligence Agency (DIA) was created in March 2002 under the Ministry of Defence. The DIA coordinates military intelligence for all the three wings of armed forces. The formation of DIA was recommended by the Cabinet Group of Ministers led by Lal Krishna Advani the then Deputy Prime Minister. The Group of Ministers also recommended reforms of intelligence organisations and officers of United States also gave advice to Indian officers about the formation of DIA.

The DIA is headed by Director General and he advises the Defence Minister and Chief of Defence Staff. The DIA is the nodal agency for defence related intelligence and its post of director general will rotate between the three-armed services. The technical intelligence assets including Directorate of Signal Intelligence, Defence Image Processing and Analysis Centre (DIPAC) came under the purview of DIA. The DIA also administers Defence Information Warfare Agency (DIWA) which handles information warfare including cyber war, psychological operations, electronic intercepts and also monitors sound waves. The DIWA successfully intercepted several important and classified information which was of great value. However, its operations remain secret which is an important ingredient of any intelligence organisation.

The DIA along with Research and Analysis Wing (R&AW), Intelligence Bureau (IB), National Technical Research Organisation (NTRO), National Investigation Agency (NIA) and Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) are important segments of Indian nodal intelligence setup. 

All the three branches of defence forces were working independently before the formation of DIA. Indian Army had field units and officers and staff were posted on border areas. Indian Army has separate cadre of intelligence officers who remain posted in intelligence units for several years. Indian Navy and Air Force have intelligence units, but they do not have a separate cadre but their officers work in intelligence units on rotation. So far, the intelligence units of defence forces were collecting intelligence of tactical value while strategic intelligence was catered by civilian intelligence agencies particularly R&AW and Intelligence Bureau.

Now the intelligence agencies of all the three services, the technical intelligence assets, DIPAC, DIWA all came under DIA hence its performance will considerably be enhanced. DIA with other vital intelligence agencies is also an important part of Indian nodal intelligence setup hence the capability of India of collecting valuable and actionable intelligence is considerably boosted.

In intelligence collection, the importance of intelligence gathering through interpersonal contacts or intelligence derived through human sources including interrogations and meetings from persons including agents having access to information cannot be mitigated. However, the significance of technical intelligence through signal intelligence, imagery intelligence has increased manifold.

At present the sophisticated technical gadgets are imported from abroad which may not be good from security angle hence India must take initiative under ‘Make in India’ programme and develop technical instruments.

Once our intelligence agencies are able to collect pinpointed actionable intelligence about the terrorist camps in Pakistan, we must launch 3^rd surgical strike as it will give a stern message that they must stop low intensity war against India. The DIA which is the combination of intelligence and defence forces can play a decisive role in surgical strikes as well as future planning of country’s defence.          

(Jai Kumar Verma is a Delhi-based strategic analyst and a retired senior intelligence officer. He is also member of United Services Institute of India and Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses. The views in the article are solely the author’s. He can be contacted at editor.adu@gmail.com)

 

Use of Intelligence in war and operations 

Aviation & Defence Universe

WE JUST REPORT FACTS, WE DO NOT CHANGE THEM

Intelligence Is A Force Multiplier For Army Operations

By J.K.Verma

New Delhi. 13 January 2019. “Your neighbour is your natural enemy. A real ruler must employ spies and organize espionage network in the neighbouring countries for expansion of empire and to defend own territory,” said  Kautilya in Arthashastra. In war there are several force multipliers, which dramatically enhance the efficacy of the defence forces. 

These force multipliers include morale, mobility, training, technology, character & reputation of the force, Geographical locations, weather, war experience, knowledge of war techniques, military strategy, deception and most important is the strategic and tactical intelligence.

Napoleon Bonaparte rightly said “A spy in the right place is worth 20,000 soldiers in the battlefield.” Richard Sorge was a Soviet agent who took the cover of a German journalist. He worked during World War II and was active both in Germany and Japan. His codename was “Ramsay” and informed the plan of Adolf Hitler to attack Soviet Union well before the attack. Again in September 1941, he informed his handlers that Japan would not attack Soviet Union. After getting the information Soviets transferred 18 Divisions, 1,700 tanks and more than 15, 00 aircraft from Siberia and Far East to the Western front to fight the forces of Germany. The transfer of troops occurred at the most crucial times and it changed the results of World War II. Nonetheless Sorge was arrested, tortured and hanged, although later Soviet Union posthumously awarded him the title of “Hero of the Soviet Union”.

 In conventional warfare the operational situation and its exploitation is significant, it becomes more important in case of terrorists. If security forces are able to get prior actionable intelligence an integrated plan can be formulated and the available resources can be deployed with surgical precision.   

The intelligence can be collected through diverse sources including Open source intelligence (OSINT), technical intelligence (TECHINT), signal intelligence (SIGINT) and lastly human intelligence (HUMINT). 90 percent intelligence is collected through open sources and now more and more intelligence organisations are opening separate sections for the collection of OSINT. Central Intelligence agency (CIA) of United States and hyper active Chinese Intelligence Agency “Ministry of State Security” (MSS) are already exploiting OSINT. TECHINT and SIGINT play vital role in collection of information however the most important intelligence is collected through HUMINT.

The significance of intelligence and coordination with army and other security forces have considerably enhanced because of increase of internal conflicts including Left Wing Extremism (LWE), Islamic terrorism including modules of Al-Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent (AQIS) and Islamic State in India, especially in Jammu and Kashmir.

There are several instances when the intelligence failed and valiant Indian army had to suffer massive causalities either in protection or in bringing back of Indian territories. In 1947 when Pakistani forces along with tribals attacked Kashmir, Maharaja had no inkling of it. Same way in 1962 when Chinese forces entered Indian territory the Indian intelligence setup miserably failed. In 1965 war Indian forces were unaware that Pakistan Army has raised an armoured division.  

Again intelligence failed in Kargil, when Pakistani forces entered India. Brigadier MPS Bajwa (Retd), a Kargil war hero mentioned, while delivering a lecture organised by Centre of Indian Military History in Chandigarh, that no worthwhile intelligence was provided to the army and it was a total intelligence failure. The Bakerwals told about Pakistani troops, who were sitting over Indian army check posts. Indian troops reclaimed the areas after great sacrifice and efforts. There were several lessons learnt in Kargil war but the most important was the failure of intelligence.

Intelligence is important not only in war, but also while planning the operations. The security forces had limited tactical intelligence during Operation Blue Star, which was launched by Indian Army in June 1984 to evict Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale and his armed cohorts from Harmandir Sahib Complex in Amritsar. At the time of launching the operation the army was not having the information about the number of fighters and the quantity and features of arms and ammunition with the militants. Due to the lack of intelligence, operational planning was difficult and more casualties occurred. 

India should always remain prepared as Pakistan has already waged a low intensity war and the possibility of limited war cannot be ruled out. In November 2008, the sinister Inter Services Intelligence (ISI) has sent 10 terrorists equipped with AK-47 rifles, Grenades, RDX and Improvised explosive devices. These terrorists attacked at 12 places in Mumbai in which about 174 persons lost lives. The defence forces of both the countries moved towards borders and the situation became very tense. In these circumstances if war breaks out, Indian army must be supplied intelligence about the preparedness, arms and ammunition, location, strength etc. of Pakistan army. The intelligence organisation should also supply information that in case of war which countries will favour Pakistan and should also give the names of countries which will overtly or covertly supply arms and ammunition to Islamabad.    

The Indian security forces will also need information about the sleeper cells of ISI, which may become active and involve in sabotage and subversion in the country. The enemy agents will also try to subvert army movements near the border areas. The intelligence agencies should also have agents inside enemy territory as army will need their assistance once they capture the enemy territory.

India also had a 73 days standoff at Doklam with China in 2017 when armed forces of both the countries came in front of each other. Hence Indian intelligence agencies should also have detailed information about China so that it can be supplied to Indian defence forces at hour of need.

Both the adversaries are nuclear powers, hence Indian intelligence agencies should also have intelligence pertaining to their nuclear warheads, as it will be very important for Indian defence forces. Indian intelligence agencies should also try to keep some watch, so that the non-state actors even if they acquire nuclear war heads with or without the knowledge of Pakistan authorities, they cannot transport or use it against India. Hence well-timed information pertaining to nuclear war-heads, conversion into intelligence and its timely dissemination is important for the Indian defence forces.  

There should be cohesion between Intelligence Bureau (IB), Military intelligence (MI), Research & Analysis Wing (R&AW), National Investigation Agency (NIA), National Technical Research Organisation (NTRO), Aviation Research Centre (ARC), Defence Intelligence Agency (DIA) etc. to acquire the best results.

In J&K Indian security forces were able to eliminate more than 250 terrorists in 2018, which was highest in a year. In most of these encounters the security forces had definite intelligence about the exact location of the terrorists. Although ISI and their sympathisers were able to gather local crowd to obstruct the security forces, so that the terrorists can escape from the encounter sites but as the security forces had conclusive evidence they continued with their operations and were able to exterminate the terrorists. In these encounters about 60 civilians who were demonstrating against security forces and were assisting terrorists were also killed. The terrorists also annihilated about 40 civilians allegedly for assisting the security forces. Security forces also eliminated more than 50 infiltrators when they were crossing India Pakistan border illegally.

According to intelligence reports about 160 terrorists of diverse terrorist outfits are still active in Kashmir. The main terrorist outfits include Lashkar-e-Toiba, Jaish-e-Muhammad, Hizbul Mujahideen, Ansar Gazwatul Hind and Al Badr. Although more than 80 security personnel were also martyred but the elimination of such large number of terrorists indicates that intelligence agencies were successful in providing actionable intelligence. Intelligence agencies should also collect information about the terrorists funding, the religious places which produce terrorists.

The courageous soldiers of Indian army executed surgical strike on September 29, 2016, in which they crossed the border entered Pakistan Occupied Kashmir and destroyed seven launching pads of terrorists. In the operation about forty terrorists, their guides, and trainers were exterminated. About two hundred indomitable Indian soldiers entered in enemy territory as they had confirmed information about the location of launching pads, the presence of terrorists, safe routes, the weapons possessed by Pakistani terrorists etc. The Indian army soldiers conducted surgical strike and came back without any casualty. It is feasible only because of courage of soldiers, perfect planning and reliable intelligence. 

The security forces are achieving successes in exterminating Left Wing Extremists (LWE) also because of perfect planning and actionable intelligence.

The intelligence orgnisations as well as security forces should cultivate respectable personalities of the region and request them to issue statements about the futility of terrorism and violence. The security agencies and intelligence organisations should chalk-out a comprehensive strategy to mitigate the disinformation campaign launched by ISI and their stooges in the valley.   

In future wars intelligence will play more significant role hence more emphasis should be given in the collection of information, its conversion into intelligence and timely dissemination to the defence forces.

(Jai Kumar Verma is a Delhi-based strategic analyst and member of United Services Institute of India and Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses. The views in the article are solely the author’s. He can be contacted at editor.adu@gmail.com)