‘Don’t tailor inputs to suit Govt’

Speaking at the inauguration of a workshop, Recent Intelligence failures in the US, UK and Russia: Lessons for India, organised by the Observer Research Foundation, Mishra stressed on balance between technical intelligence and human intelligence for a proper assessment.

The former principal secretary highlighted the manner in which intelligence inputs were tailored in the US and UK to facilitate military action against Iraq. This, in reality, ended in ‘‘catastrophic results’’ in Iraq which harmed both the governments concerned.

Mishra emphasised the need for coordination among intelligence agencies which can be done through organised sharing of information for better assessment. Citing the 9/11 Commission Report, he said, the lack of coordination was a problem not only in India but also in countries like the US. If the FBI had shared certain information with the CIA, the 9/11 disaster may have been averted.

He hoped that the UPA Government at the Centre will look into this aspect of intelligence sharing during the on going review of agencies’ functioning.

Noted security analyst and security expert K. Subrahmanyam, while speaking in one of the sessions, talked of the need for strengthening the joint intelligence council.