The known activities and international operations of R&AW, by country:
Africa South Africa and Namibia R&AW trained the intelligence officers of many independent African countries and assisted the anti-apartheid struggles in South Africa and
Namibia. Retired R&AW officers were deputed to work in training institutes of intelligence agencies of some African states.
Senegal R&AW was one of the primary agencies that provided the information about
Ravi Pujari being located in Senegal. This information was provided to Senegalese authorities, who arrested Pujari and deported him to India. He was formally arrested at
Kempegowda International Airport by
Karnataka Police.
Asia Afghanistan During the
Soviet War in Afghanistan, R&AW had recruited three powerful warlords, including
Ahmad Shah Massoud. In 1996, R&AW had built a 25-bed military hospital at the
Farkhor Air Base. This airbase was used by the
Aviation Research Centre, the reconnaissance arm of R&AW, to repair and operate the Northern Alliance's aerial support. This relationship was further cemented in the
2001 Afghan war. After the
September 11, 2001 attacks, R&AW provided the intelligence to western countries that there were over 120
training camps operating in Afghanistan and
Pakistan, run by a variety of militant groups. After the
overthrow of Taliban in Afghanistan in 2001, R&AW was the first intelligence agency to determine the extent of the
Kunduz airlift. In 2017, R&AW undertook a
counter-terrorism operation, described as "unprecedented in its scale and scope", foiling a major terrorist attack by an
Islamic State – Khorasan suicide bomber in New Delhi. The
CIA was also involved in this operation. The militant was later transferred to a US base in Afghanistan for further questioning. The operation spanned 3 countries and involved 80 Research officers. In November–December 2019, a special
exfiltration operation was undertaken by R&AW. At least four Indian nationals working in various parts of Afghanistan, that had been abducted by the
Haqqani network, were successfully rescued. In 2020, 10
MSS operatives from
Xinjiang State Security Department (XSSD) were arrested in
Kabul by the Afghan
NDS. During questioning, one of the operatives told the interrogators that they were gathering information about al-Qaeda, Taliban and
Turkistan Islamic Party in
Kunar and
Badakhshan provinces, and wanted to assassinate high-level members of
TIP. This
counter-intelligence operation was undertaken based on a tip from R&AW.
Bangladesh In the early 1970s, the
army of Pakistan launched
military crackdown in response to the
Bangladesh independence movement. Nearly 1 crore (10 million) refugees fled to India. R&AW was instrumental in the formation of the Bangladeshi guerrilla organisation
Mukti Bahini and responsible for supplying information, providing training and heavy ammunition to this organisation.
Special Frontier Force, then under R&AW, actively participated in military operations especially in the
Chittagong Hill Tracts. After the war ended in the successful creation of Bangladesh, four years later
Sheikh Mujibur Rahman was assassinated on 15 August 1975 at his residence. R&AW operatives claimed that they had advance information about
Mujibur Rahman's assassination but Sheikh Mujib tragically ignored inputs. He was killed along with much of his family. Later, R&AW successfully thwarted plans of assassinating
Sheikh Hasina Wazed, daughter of Mujibur Rahman, by
Islamist extremists. In 1990, R&AW helped engineer and support a democratic uprising against
Mohammed Ershad, thus leading to his resignation. His pro-Pakistan and
anti-Hindu policy decisions had been considered a threat by Indian government. In 1991, after
Khaleda Zia won an election, India was alarmed over increased harassment of pro-India politicians, large-scale radicalisation and meticulously planned infiltration of trained extremists into Indian territory by
Jamaat-e-Islami. JeI had set-up several terror training camps located along the border. In order to stop this activity, R&AW spontaneously bombed several of its camps and a major ISI safe house, thus dismantling JeI's terror network. In 1977–97, India took active part in
Chittagong Hill Tracts conflict. R&AW trained and financed the rebels of
Shanti Bahini, the militant wing of the
PCJSS. In 2025, the chief of the PCJSS,
Santu Larma, was accused of carrying out human rights violations, child soldier recruitment, arms and narcotics trafficking on behalf of the
Government of Bangladesh.
China After China tested its
first nuclear weapons on 16 October 1964, at
Lop Nur,
Xinjiang, India and the USA shared a common fear about
the nuclear capabilities of China. Owing to the extreme remoteness of Chinese testing grounds, strict secrecy surrounding the Chinese nuclear programme, and the extreme difficulty that an Indian or American would have passing themselves off as Chinese, it was almost impossible to carry out any
HUMINT operation. So, the
CIA in the late 1960s decided to launch an
ELINT operation along with R&AW and
ARC to track China's nuclear tests and monitor its missile launches. The operation, in the garb of a mountaineering expedition to
Nanda Devi involved Indian climber
M S Kohli who along with operatives of
Special Frontier Force and the
CIA – most notably Jim Rhyne, a veteran
STOL pilot – was to place a permanent
ELINT device, a transceiver powered by a plutonium battery, that could detect and report data on future nuclear tests carried out by China. The monitoring device was near successfully implanted on
Nanda Devi, when an
avalanche forced a hasty withdrawal. Later, a subsequent mountain operation to retrieve or replant the device was aborted when it was found that the device was lost. Recent reports indicate that radiation traces from this device have been discovered in sediment below the mountains. In February 2020,
Indian Customs officials detained a Chinese ship from
Shanghai Port, at
Kandla Port. The ship was bound for
Port Qasim in
Karachi. It was seized for wrongly declaring an autoclave, which can be used in the launch process of
ballistic missiles, as an industrial dryer. This seizure was done on an intelligence tip-off by R&AW.
Fiji In
Fiji, where Fijians with Indian ancestry were being persecuted by
Sitiveni Rabuka, R&AW launched an operation involving informants in
Australia,
New Zealand and
UK to successfully oust him from power.
Iran In August 1991, R&AW undertook a
physical surveillance and tracking operation of Indian nationals from
Jammu and Kashmir that were taking weapons training in
Qom.
Malaysia Since 2014, R&AW has undertaken numerous identification,
physical surveillance and tracking operations in Malaysia targeted towards
Khalistani organisations. It is only of because such operations that many high-ranking Khalistani militants like Harminder Singh Mintoo, Tara Singh, Kulbir Kaur, Ramandeep Singh etc. have been arrested and deported to India.
Maldives In November 1988, the
People's Liberation Organisation of Tamil Eelam (PLOTE), composed of about 200
Tamil secessionist rebels under Abdullah Luthufi, invaded
Maldives. At the request of the president of Maldives,
Maumoon Abdul Gayoom, the
Indian Armed Forces, with assistance from R&AW, launched a military campaign to throw the mercenaries out of Maldives. On the night of 3 November 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 the airstrip of
Hulhule island and restored the Government rule at
Malé within a day. The operation, labelled
Operation Cactus, also involved the
Indian Navy. Swift operation by the military and precise intelligence by R&AW quelled the
insurgency. In 2018–19, R&AW undertook many operations that crippled
ISI and
MSS intelligence network in Maldives. In December 2024
The Washington Post reported that R&AW tried (but later dropped the plan altogether as relations started to improve between India and Maldives) to oust Maldivian government because Government of India perceived the Maldivian government to be pro-China. After the publication of
The Washington Post report the Maldivian Foreign Minister in an interview to
WION said (regarding
The Washington Post story) "very short answer for that. It is totally, something that is untrue, unfounded. There is no truth in that. So it is as simple as that."
Mauritius In
February 1983,
Mauritian Prime Minister
Anerood Jugnauth requested assistance from Indira Gandhi in the event of a coup by rival politician
Paul Bérenger. In March 1983, Gandhi ordered the Indian Army and Navy to prepare for a military intervention against a possible coup against the Jugnauth government. But the military intervention was put off by Gandhi, after a squabble between the Indian Navy and Army, on who would lead the operation. Instead, she chose to task the Research and Analysis Wing's then chief, Nowsher F. Suntook, with supervising a largely intelligence-led operation to reunite the Indian community of
Mauritius whose fracturing along ideological and communal lines had allowed Berenger to mount a political challenge.
Myanmar During the 1990s, R&AW cultivated Burmese rebel groups and pro-democracy coalitions, especially the
Kachin Independence Army (KIA). India allowed the KIA to carry a limited trade in
jade and precious stones using Indian territory and even supplied them weapons. It is further alleged that KIA chief
Maran Brang Seng met the Secretary(R) in Delhi twice. However, when the KIA became the main source of training and weapons for militant groups in Northeast India, R&AW initiated an operation, code named
Operation Leech, to assassinate the leaders of the Burmese rebels as an example to other groups. In 1998, six top rebel leaders, including military wing chief of National Unity Party of Arakans (NUPA), Khaing Raza, were shot dead and 34 Arakanese guerrillas were arrested and charged with gunrunning. In 1995, in
Mizoram along the
India–Myanmar border, the
57th Mountain Division of the
Indian Army carried out the
Operation Golden Bird. The operation was launched because R&AW had provided information that a huge consignment of arms had reached to
Cox's Bazar (Bangladesh) and was to be sent to insurgents in
Manipur. The arms, as per intelligence, were meant for groups in
Nagaland and
Isak-Muivah group in Manipur. Forces were deployed for counterinsurgency in the states of Manipur and Nagaland. Radio sets and other technological instruments were used to intercept insurgent messages. On 5 April 1995, Indian troops captured an insurgent named Hathi Bsrvah, trained by Pakistani ISI near Karachi. By 21 May 1995, the operation was finally called off. In 2015, R&AW and
Military Intelligence of Indian Army provided the intelligence support to
21 Para (SF), for their
counter-insurgency operation in Myanmar.
Nepal In 1998,
Mirza Dilshad Beg, a Nepalese parliamentarian and an
ISI informant was assassinated by R&AW.
Raju Pargai & Amit Arya were shot dead in 2011, who were running
Mirza Dilshad Beg's entire network in Uttarakhand. Despite the accusation and arrest of
Lucky Bisht, there was not enough evidence to convict him in the murder case, leading to his eventual acquittal. During 1997–2013, R&AW along with IB carried out multiple operations, in which many militant leaders like
Yasin Bhatkal of
Indian Mujahideen; Bhupinder Singh Bhuda of
Khalistan Commando Force; Tariq Mehmood, Asif Ali,
Syed Abdul Karim Tunda, Abu Qasim of
Lashkar-e-Taiba; Fayaz Ahmed Mir of
Jaish-e-Mohammed were secretly brought to India. In 2014, R&AW along with
DGFI tracked down
Indian Mujahideen's top commander, Zia Ur Rehman in Nepal. The operation was executed by
DGFI after formal request from India's R&AW and Nepal's law enforcement agencies. In 2017, it was reported that R&AW had kidnapped a mid-level ISI officer Lt. Col. Mohammed H Zahir from
Lumbini. There were reports that Zahir was among the ISI team that had taken part in kidnapping and smuggling of former Indian Navy officer Kulbhushan Jadhav from
Chabahar, Iran to Meshkal Pakistan. In September 2022, Mohammad Lal, who was a huge supplier of counterfeit Indian currency was shot dead by two unidentified armed men in Kathmandu. The assailants immediately fled the scene after shooting Lal. R&AW had been looking for Lal for a long time for his alleged connections with
ISI and
D-Company.
Pakistan During the late 1980s, R&AW had infiltrated the highest levels of Pakistani military and political leadership. It even had a
mole inside General
Yahya Khan's Office. This mole had also alerted the Indian armed forces, a week before about impending Pakistani air attack. This alert was correct as Pakistan attacked India on December 3, thus starting
the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971. R&AW's most successful spy was
Ravindra Kaushik, who spied in Pakistan in the 1970s. He was from Rajasthan's
Sri Ganganagar. Kaushik was a student and an aspiring actor. He was acting in a patriotic play in a theatre in Lucknow when an R&AW recruiter spotted him. He joined R&AW in 1975 at the age of 23. They trained him, created a disguise identity and sent him to Pakistan. He did an LLB at
Karachi university and joined the Pakistani army, eventually he was promoted to the rank of major. Between 1979–83 he passed valuable information to R&AW. Due to his feats the then Indian prime minister
Indira Gandhi gave him title of "The Black Tiger".
Kahuta is the site of the
Khan Research Laboratories, Pakistan's main nuclear weapons laboratory as well as an emerging centre for long-range missile development. The primary Pakistani missile-material production facility is located at Kahuta, employing gas centrifuge enrichment technology to produce
Highly Enriched Uranium (HEU). R&AW first confirmed Pakistan's nuclear programs by analysing the hair samples snatched from the floor of barber shops near KRL; which showed that Pakistan had developed the ability to enrich uranium to weapons-grade quality. R&AW operatives knew about
Kahuta Research Laboratories from at least early 1978, when the then Indian Prime Minister,
Morarji Desai, accidentally exposed R&AW's operations on
Pakistan's covert nuclear weapons program. In an indiscreet moment in a telephone conversation one day, Morarji Desai informed the then Pakistan President,
Zia-ul-Haq, that India was aware of Pakistan's nuclear weapons program. According to later reports, acting on this "tip-off", Pakistan's ISI and army eliminated most of R&AW's assets in and around Kahuta. R&AW received information from one of its informants in a London-based company, which had supplied Arctic-weather gear to Indian troops in
Ladakh, that some Pakistan paramilitary forces had bought similar Arctic-weather gear. This information was shared with the Indian Army which launched
Operation Meghdoot to take control of the Siachen Glacier with around 300 and the second at
Khalistani groups.
Rabinder Singh, the R&AW officer who later
defected to the United States in 2004, helped run CIT-J in its early years. Both these covert units used the services of cross-border traffickers to ferry weapons and funds across the border, much as their
ISI counterparts were doing. According to former R&AW official and noted security analyst B. Raman, the Indian counter-campaign yielded results. "The role of our cover action capability in putting an end to the ISI's interference and support of khalistani militants in Punjab, thus completely stopping years of violence and insurgency", he wrote in 2002, "by making such interference prohibitively costly is little known and understood." These covert groups were disbanded during the tenure of
IK Gujral and were never restarted. As per
B Raman a former R&AW
Additional Secretary, these covert groups were successful in keeping a check on
ISI and were "responsible for ending the Khalistani insurgency". During the mid-1990s, R&AW undertook an operation to infiltrate various
ISI-backed militant groups in
Jammu and Kashmir. R&AW operatives infiltrated the area, collected military intelligence, and provided evidence about
ISI's involvement in training and funding separatist groups. R&AW was successful not only in unearthing the links, but also in infiltrating and neutralising the terrorism in the Kashmir valley. It is also credited for creating a split in the
Hizb-ul-Mujahideen. Operation Chanakya also marked the creation of pro-Indian groups in Kashmir like the Ikhwan-ul-Muslimeen, Muslim Mujahideen etc. These
counter-insurgencies consist of ex-militants and relatives of those slain in the conflict. Ikhwan-ul-Muslimeen leader Kokka Parrey was himself assassinated by separatists. This tape was later published by India to prove Pakistani involvement in the Kargil incursion. In 2004, it had come to light that a timely tip-off by R&AW helped foil a third assassination plot against Pakistan's former president, General
Pervez Musharraf. About 2–6 months before
26/11 Mumbai attacks, R&AW had intercepted several telephone calls through SIGINT which pointed at impending attacks on Mumbai Hotels by Pakistan-based terrorists, however there was a coordination failure and no follow up action was taken. Few hours before the attacks, a R&AW technician monitoring satellite transmissions picked up conversations between attackers and handlers, as the attackers were sailing toward Mumbai. The technician flagged the conversations as being suspicious and passed them on to his superiors. R&AW believed that they were worrying and immediately alerted the office of the National Security Advisor. However the intelligence was ignored. Later, just after the terrorists had attacked Mumbai, the technicians started monitoring the six phones used by the terrorists and recorded conversations between the terrorists and their handlers. In March 2016,
Kulbhushan Jadhav, an Indian naval officer who working as a R&AW agent, was arrested in
Balochistan and charged with espionage and sabotage. He was accused of operating a
covert terror network within Balochistan. In 2017, he was
sentenced to death by a Field General Court Martial in Pakistan. While held by Pakistani authorities, Jadhav had confessed in a video recording that he was tasked by R&AW, “to plan and organise espionage and sabotage activities” in Balochistan and
Karachi. During
2019 Balakot airstrike, R&AW played an important role by identifying and providing intelligence on Markaz Syed Ahmad Shaheed training camp, to operational planners. It had
HUMINT that a large number of terrorists had congregated in the camp. On 1 March 2022, one of the hijackers of
Flight IC 814 flight, Zahoor Mistry, was killed by two bike-borne assailants in Karachi. It was Mistry who had killed one of the passengers, 25-year-old
Rupin Katyal, on the flight. It is widely believed he was assassinated by R&AW. On 20 February 2023,
Hizbul Commander Bashir Ahmad Peer alias Imtiyaz Alam who was India's most wanted designated terrorist under
Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act was shot dead outside a store by unknown assailants in Rawalpindi. It is widely believed that R&AW was behind this. On May 6, 2023,
Paramjit Singh Panjwar, the Chief of
Khalistan Commando Force was gunned down by two unidentified bike-borne gunmen in Johar Town of Lahore while he was out for a morning walk near his residence. Most likely it is believed he was assassinated by R&AW operative. On April 4, 2024,
The Guardian reported that the Indian government had allegedly ordered the killings of individuals in Pakistan. Up to 20 assassinations had taken place since 2020, targeting individuals who were either linked to known terrorist organizations or were former members of these organizations. On March 16, 2025, Multiple news outlets reported that a top
LeT commander named Abu Qatal Sindhi was killed by ‘unknown gunmen’ in the Jhelum area of Pakistan. Sindhi was a key LeT operative responsible for coordinating several major attacks in the Rajouri-Poonch region along
Line of Control. In
2025 India–Pakistan conflict, R&AW supplied intelligence about terrorist hideouts in Pakistan to
Indian Armed Forces for
Operation Sindoor.
Philippines In March 2023, with the help of Indian intelligence inputs, officers from the
Philippine Bureau of Immigration, the Cybercrime Investigation and Coordinating Center and the
National Intelligence Coordinating Agency arrested three suspected members of the
Khalistan Tiger Force (KTF) in the central Philippine city of
Iloilo. The suspects were deported back to India in May 2023.
Saudi Arabia Since the 1990s, given its position as the largest source of funds and promoter of
Salafist ideology and being considered major security challenge for India. R&AW has greatly expanded its activities and operation in Saudi Arabia.
Abdul Karim Tunda was captured in Saudi Arabia and was secretly brought to India. In April 2023 the Saudi cabinet gave approval for joint cooperation with Indian intelligence agencies. It also approved Riyadh's status as a dialogue partner for SCO as India prepares to host the SCO summit in July. India-Saudi defence and security partnership has been steadily growing. There were a number of high-level bilateral visits and meetings, beginning with the first-ever official visit to India by Lt Gen Fahd bin Abdullah Mohammed Al-Mutair, commander of
Royal Saudi Land Forces.
Sri Lanka In the early 1980s, R&AW allegedly started funding and training Tamil militants to keep a check on
Sri Lanka, which had helped Pakistan in the
Indo-Pak War by allowing Pakistani ships to refuel at Sri Lankan ports. R&AW split the Tamil militants into more than 20 groups, among which Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) was one. However, when LTTE disobeyed the directions offered by R&AW, the agency switched sides and started providing intelligence support to Sri Lanka. When Prime Minister of India
Rajiv Gandhi was forced to send the
Indian Peace Keeping Force (IPKF) under
Operation Pawan in 1987 to restore normalcy in the region. The disastrous mission of the IPKF was blamed by many on the lack of coordination between the IPKF and R&AW. Its most disastrous manifestation was the
Heliborne assault on LTTE HQ in the
Jaffna University campus in the opening stages of
Operation Pawan. The dropping
paratroopers became easy targets for the LTTE. A number of soldiers were killed. The
assassination of Rajiv Gandhi ended India's involvement in Sri Lankan Civil war. In 2010, R&AW carried out a snatch operation in Sri Lanka, in which a top
HuJI militant Sheikh Abdul Khawaja – handler of the
26/11 Mumbai terror attackers was captured and secretly taken away to India. In 2015, it was allegedly reported by the Sri Lankan newspaper
The Sunday Times, that R&AW had played a role in uniting the opposition, to bring about the defeat of
Mahinda Rajapaksa. There had been growing concern in the Indian government, on the increasing influence of economic and military rival China in Sri Lankan affairs. Rajapaksa further upped the ante by allowing 2 Chinese submarines to dock in 2014, without informing India, in spite of a stand still agreement to this effect between India and Sri Lanka. The growing Chinese tilt of Rajapaksa was viewed by India with unease. Further, it was alleged, that R&AW's
Chief of Station in Colombo, helped coordination of talks within the opposition, and convincing former PM
Ranil Wickremasinghe not to stand against Rajapaksa, but to choose a common opposition candidate, who had better chances of winning. The
station chief was also alleged to have been in touch with
Chandrika Kumaratunga, who played a key role in convincing
Maithripala Sirisena to be the common candidate. However these allegations were denied by the
Indian Government and the
Sri Lankan Foreign Minister Mangala Samaraweera. Before the
2019 Easter bombings, R&AW had issued precision intelligence warnings to its
Sri Lankan counterpart about an impending terrorist attack. All of these warnings were based on
HUMINT gathered by it.
Tajikistan In the mid-1990s, after the rise of Pakistan backed
Taliban in Afghanistan, India started supporting the
Northern Alliance. In order to provide support, India had acquired
Farkhor Air Base. This airbase was used by R&AW, along with
M.I., as a base of operations for all their activities directed to Afghanistan like covert paramilitary operations and
HUMINT gathering. The airbase was also used by
ARC and
Directorate of Air Intelligence (DAI), to provide aerial reconnaissance to Northern Alliance.
Australia A detailed report from
The Washington Post and
The Sydney Morning Herald revealed R&AW's deep operations in the country. Australian authorities expelled two Indian intelligence operatives in 2020 for being members of an elaborate "nest of spies" that attempted to steal sensitive information about defence technology, major airport security and trade relationships.
ASIO Director-General Mike Burgess revealed in 2021 that ASIO had uncovered a "nest of spies" from R&AW, whose operations included grooming politicians and a foreign embassy as informants and R&AW had also recruited an Australian government official with security clearance.
Germany Since 2014, R&AW has undertaken numerous physical surveillance, identification and tracking operations in Germany, targeted towards Khalistani militants and Islamic fundamentalists. It has aggressively recruited agents inside pro-Khalistan circles all across Germany, in cities like
Frankfurt and
Berlin. In 2019 a surveliiance operation was undertaken with the target being Gurmeet Singh Bagga, co-leader of the
Khalistan Zindabad Force, and a fugitive wanted for the
Punjab drone arms drop case. It has also aggressively recruited agents inside Pro-Khalistan circles all across Italy. Since the suppression and defeat of
Khalistani insurgency in the late 1990s, R&AW has greatly expanded its informant network inside Khalistani circles and associations in the UK. Wanted Khalistanis like Paramjeet Singh Pamma and Kuldeep Singh Chaheru have been living in UK since they fled in 1992, thus necessitating increased R&AW presence.
North America Canada Kanishka Bombing case: On 23 June 1985 Air India's
Flight 182 was blown up near Ireland and 329 people died. On the same day, another explosion took place at 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 considered as a major setback to R&AW for failing to gather enough intelligence about the
Khalistani militants. In April 2020, it was reported that R&AW and
IB had launched an extensive operation in 2009–2015, to influence the Canadian government and politicians into supporting India's interests. Canada has long being accused by India for being a safe haven for Khalistani separatists. In July 2020, Canada put two Sikh men on
Passenger Protect, the Canadian no-fly list, after
Canadian Security Intelligence Service had received information from R&AW that both intended to travel to Pakistan and carry out an
ISI-backed terrorist attack inside India. One of the men was identified as the son of
Lakhbir Singh Rode, a well-known Khalistani separatist. On 19 June 2023,
Hardeep Singh Nijjar, a prominent Khalistani leader and alleged chief of the
Khalistan Tiger Force was shot to death outside the parking lot of Guru Nanak Sikh Gurdwara in
Surrey, British Columbia. Nijjar was accused of training and funding members of the separatist group and had been declared a terrorist by India, who put a bounty of for information leading to his arrest. This was heavily seen as an R&AW assassination operation by not only followers of Nijjar, but also from Canadian officials. On 18 September 2023, Canadian Prime Minister
Justin Trudeau formally accused the Indian government of the
killing and acknowledged the expulsion of a prominent Indian diplomat responsible for R&AW activities in the country. India rejected Canada's allegations of involvement in Nijjar's murder, calling the Canadian government's allegations "absurd and motivated", and expelled numerous Canadian diplomats.
United States On 23 November 2023,
The Financial Times reported that the United States had foiled a plan to assassinate
Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, a Sikh separatist, on American soil. Following this, the US requested India to hold accountable those responsible for the plot. The plot in the United States coincided with the June 18 shooting death of
Hardeep Singh Nijjar in Surrey, B.C., near Vancouver — an operation also linked to R&AW. Experts and officials say that the foiled assassination is part of an escalating campaign of aggression by R&AW against alleged Sikh Separatists in Asia, Europe, USA and Canada. On 10 December 2023,
The Washington Post reported that an R&AW officer established a fake news site to spread disinformation against critics of the
Modi government. On 20 March 2024,
Bloomberg reported that an Indian investigation had found "rogue operative" who were not authorized by the government to be involved in the plot. Additionally, at least one person who was directly involved in the alleged assassination attempt is no longer employed by R&AW. However, India has not initiated any criminal action against them. According to
The Washington Post, it is the U.S. intelligence agencies assessment that the operation targeting Pannun was approved by
Samant Goel, the R&AW chief at the time. On 15 October 2024
Hindustan Times reported that India has conveyed to the United States that it (India) has arrested the "rogue operative". The "rogue operative" had made bail in April 2024 according to
The Indian Express. The "rogue operative" was arrested in an extortion case. On 18 November 2024
The New Indian Express reported that the "rogue operative" had sought exemption from physical appearance in the court citing threat to his life. On 15 January 2025
The Indian Express reported that an inquiry committee which was formed by the Government of India after US allegation regarding Gurpatwant Singh Pannun came to light had recommended legal action against an unnamed individual and the committee also recommended "functional improvements in systems and procedures as well as initiation of steps that could strengthen India's response capability, ensure systematic controls and coordinated action in dealing with matters like this."
Controversies R&AW's controversies and failures at times can be attributed to weak political leadership which translated into operational hurdles manifesting in the form of political interference, budget constraints, Inter Services/Departmental/Cadre rivalry and corruption. • In the early 1980s, K.V. Unnikrishnan, R&AW officer stationed in Colombo was honey-trapped by CIA. Between 1985 and 1987 he gave away information to his handler on training and arming Tamil groups including LTTE, the Indian government's negotiating positions on the peace accord with Sri Lanka and the encryption code used by the agency. He was caught by IB counterintelligence in 1987, spent a year in Tihar jail and was dismissed from IPS cadre. • In 2004, there was a spy scandal involving the
CIA.
Rabinder Singh,
Joint Secretary and the head of R&AW's
South-East Asia department, defected to America on 5 June 2004. R&AW had already become suspicious about his movements, and he was under surveillance for a long time. Soon he was confronted by Counterintelligence officials on 19 April 2004. Rabinder Singh managed to defect with 'sensitive files' he had allegedly removed from R&AW's headquarters in south New Delhi. This embarrassing fiasco and national security failure were attributed to weak surveillance, shoddy investigation, and lack of coordination between the Counterintelligence and Security,
Intelligence Bureau (IB) and R&AW. According to unconfirmed reports, Singh has surfaced in
Virginia, USA. Recently in an affidavit submitted to the court, R&AW deposed that Singh has been traced in
New Jersey. It has been speculated in the book
Mission R&AW that although the CIA was found directly involved in compromising Singh and Unnikrishnan, at least eight other R&AW officers managed to clandestinely migrate and settle in foreign countries like the US and Canada with the help of their spy agencies. • In September 2007, R&AW was involved in a
controversy due to a high-profile
CBI raid at the residence of
Major General (retired) V K Singh, a retired
Joint Secretary of R&AW who has recently written a book on R&AW where it was alleged that political interference and corruption in the intelligence agency has made it vulnerable to defections. One of the instances of corruption mentioned in the book was the preference given by R&AW departments towards purchasing intelligence from the
Rohde and Schwarz company. A reason for such corruption as explained by the author is that "
...R&AW was not answerable to any outside agency – the control of the
Prime Minister's Office was perfunctory, at best – many officers thought that they were not only above the law but a law unto themselves
." A case under the
Official Secrets Act has also been filed against V K Singh. • On 19 August 2008, the R&AW Director (Language) who was also head of the R&AW Training Institute in
Gurgaon from 2005 tried to commit suicide in front of
Prime Minister's Office, alleging inaction and wrong findings to a
sexual harassment complaint filed against a
Joint Secretary, who was on deputation to R&AW. She was discharged from duty on the ground that she was mentally unfit and that her identity was disclosed. She was later separately charged with criminal trespass, human trafficking and for her repeated attempts to commit suicide. however R&AW filed an appeal against the CAT order which is pending before
Delhi High Court. On 20 January 2011 she was sent for psychological evaluation and medical detention by a Delhi High Court judge when she tried to strip herself in the court protesting over the slow pace of her trial. The psychological evaluation report stated that 'she may be suffering a mental problem due to loss of job and her continuous run-ins at the courts, but she was certainly not suffering from any permanent or grave mental disorder.' • On 4 February 2009, A senior technical officer worked in the division was arrested by
CBI on graft charges, the officer was accused of demanding and accepting a bribe of ₹ 100,000 from a
Chennai based manufacturer for obtaining an export license. • In September 2009, seven
Additional Secretaries from the RAS cadre had gone on protest leave after A. B. Mathur, an IPS officer, superseded them to the post of Special Secretary. Over the years the tussle between the RAS cadre and officers on deputation from IPS cadre has caused friction in the working of the agency. • In 2007, there was a spy scandal involving
Bangladesh. A Bangladeshi
DGFI agent concealed his nationality before joining R&AW, and was known by the name of Diwan Chand Malik in the agency. He was known to have some important intel which was damaging for the national security. He joined the agency in 1999 and used to live in East
Delhi. A case of cheating and forgery was filed against him at the Lodhi Colony police station on the basis of a complaint by a senior R&AW official. • In the edition of 8 February 2010
Outlook Magazine reported on former R&AW Chief,
Ashok Chaturvedi, used agency funds to take his wife along on international trips and after retirement, Chaturvedi had a diplomatic passport issued for himself and his wife. • On 25 March 2016, Pakistan claimed that they arrested a R&AW operative by the name of
Kulbhushan Jadhav who was operating in
Balochistan province under the cover name
Hussain Mubarak Patel and used to operate a jewelry shop in
Chahbahar, Iran. However,
Indian MEA said that though Jadhav was an Indian Navy officer who retired prematurely, he has no link with the government. The Indian High Commission has also sought consular access to Jadhav, but Pakistan has not agreed to it and Pakistan leaked some information without realising glaring loopholes in the same. The
Iranian President Hassan Rouhani also dismissed Pakistan's claim and stated them as mere rumors. According to an Indian official, Jadhav owns a cargo business in Iran and had been working out of
Bandar Abbas and
Chabahar ports. "It appears that he strayed into Pakistani waters. But there is also a possibility that he was lured into Pakistan sometime back and fake documents were created on him. == In popular culture ==