‘No military operation would’ve been successful had it not been for support from our intelligence agencies,’ says Army Chief-designate

In his address, Gen Naravane said, “Many of you might be wondering what a person in uniform is doing at the launch of a book on the subject of intelligence. Military operations and intelligence go hand in hand. In fact, whenever we have an operational briefing, it always begins with khabar dushman ke baare mein (information about the enemy) and that khabar is what we get from our intelligence operatives. I dare say that none of our military operations would have been successful, had it not been for the support we got from various intelligence agencies, including RAW. We owe it to them from the Armed Forces, to acknowledge the contribution that they have made to our nation’s security.”

He added, “When we talk or think of intelligence, we normally think of James Bond: guns, girls, guitars and glamour. But the world of intelligence is not that. It’s more like John Le Carre’s Smiley’s People. Unseen, unheard of, unknown and working behind the scenes. While going through volumes of data, reports and returns, to have the intellectual capacity to piece together nuggets of information that make up the jigsaw puzzle. That is where this book on R N Kao aptly brings out what it all is about — tireless work behind the scenes, mostly unheard of, unknown. The book brings him to life for us.”

Gen Naravane shared the dais with two retired IPS officers, V Balachandran and Jayant Umranikar, both of whom served long tenures with the RAW during their careers. Reminiscing on Kao’s influence, Umranikar, who has also served as Pune Police Commissioner, said, “He was distant but still an imposing figure for me. He was a legend. He was like Mount Everest; like when you enter the Himalayas, you see that peak and wonder if you will ever reach it.”

Balachandran, who was Special Secretary in the RAW, and Umranikar discussed different aspects of Kao’s tenure and some current issues related to the intelligence world with Gokhale in a panel discussion.

During the discussion, the question of declassification of secret documents related to the wars of 1962, 1965 and 1971 came up. Panelists advocated declassification for the purpose of accurate and factual documentation of these historical events.

Speaking to the media on the sidelines, Balachandran said, “Declassification is necessary to record the correct history. Several western countries and even Russia are declassifying their records after passage of a certain time. Very sensitive information, like those that may lead to conflict or misunderstanding, can be held back. There should be a policy for it. The only barrier is the British-era Official Secrets Act, which I think should be scrapped.”