5 interesting facts about India's RAW

New Delhi: Research and Analysis Wing, India's top external intelligence agency, was created after the India-China war in 1962 and India-Pakistan war in 1965.Set up on orders from the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, R N Kao was the first RAW chief.The government then felt the need to set up an agency which looks after secret information and counter terrorist attacks.Here are some interesting facts about India's external intelligence agency:1. Operation MeghdootClassified information from RAW in 1984 warned that Pakistan was planning to capture Saltoro Ridge in Siachen as part of Operation Ababeel.The Indian Army soon launched Operation Meghdoot in the treacherous terrain.Around 300 troops were deployed along the Siachen before Pakistan Army pushed its troops to capture the strategic peak.2. Kanishka Bombing case This was a major blow to RAW's working efficiency.On 23 June 1985, Indian aircraft Boeing 747-237B was blown up by a bomb at an altitude of 31,000 feet (9,400 m) near Ireland. The incident caused the death of 329 passengers.On the same day, with a gap of an hour, another explosion occurred Tokyo's Narita airport's transit baggage building where baggage was being transferred from Cathay Pacific Flight No CP 003 to Air India Flight 301, which was scheduled for Bangkok.Both aircraft were loaded with explosives from Canadian airports.Flight 301 got saved because of a delay in its departure.This was a failure on RAW's part as they were responsible to counter Khalistan movements.3. Operation CactusIn November 1988, the People's Liberation Organisation of Tamil Eelam (PLOTE), a militant Tamils invaded Maldives.The Indian Armed Forces, with assistance from R&AW, launched a military campaign to throw the mercenaries out of Maldives.On the night of November 3, 1988, the Indian Air Force airlifted the 6th parachute battalion of the Parachute Regiment from Agra and flew them over 2,000 km to Maldives.The Indian paratroopers landed at Hulhule and restored the government of the then President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom at Malé within hours.The operation, labeled Operation Cactus, also involved the Indian Navy.Swift operation by the military and precise intelligence by RAW quelled the insurgency.4. Support to Northern AllianceAfter the rise of Pakistan and American backed Taliban in Afghanistan, India decided to side with the Northern Alliance (a resistance force against the Taliban government) and the Soviet Union.By 1996, RAW had built a 25 bed military hospital at the Farkhor Air Base.This airport was used by the India's Aviation Research Centre, the reconnaissance arm of RAW, to repair and operate the Northern Alliance's aerial support.This relationship was further cemented in the 2001 Afgan war.India supplied the Northern Alliance high altitude warfare equipment worth around US$8–10 million.RAW was the first intelligence agency to determine the extent of the Kunduz airlift.5. Kargil War RAW was successful in tapping a telephonic conversation between the then Pakistan army chief General Pervez Musharraf, who was in Beijing, and his chief of staff Lt. Gen. Mohammed Aziz in Islamabad.This tape was later published by India to prove Pakistani involvement in the Kargil incursion.However, RAW was criticized for not providing accurate information about the Pakistani armed intrusion that resulted in the 10 week long battle and killed thousands of soldiers.