Research and Analysis Wing (R&AW)

About Research and Analysis Wing (R&AW):

• It was established in 1968 to handle India’s international intelligence affairs.
• At present, R&AW is under the aegis of the Prime Minister’s Office.
• Working mechanism: It collects military, economic, scientific, and political intelligence through covert and overt operations.
• The agency is also charged with monitoring terrorist elements and smuggling rings that transport weapons and ammunition into India.
• Formation:
  • Until 1968, the Intelligence Bureau (IB) was responsible for India’s internal intelligence and also handled external intelligence.
  • However, after the 1962 China-India war and the Indo-Pakistani war in 1965, India established a separate and distinct external intelligence organization–the R&AW.
  • Since its inception, RAW is credited with providing intelligence support to many significant operations on foreign soil.

Q1: What is the Intelligence Bureau (IB)?

IB is an internal intelligence agency of India which is used to gather intelligence from within India and also execute counter-intelligence and counter-terrorism tasks. In addition to domestic intelligence responsibilities, the IB is particularly tasked with intelligence collection in border areas, following the 1951 recommendations of the Himmatsinhji Committee (also known as the North and North-East Border Committee), a task entrusted to military intelligence organizations, prior to independence in 1947. It comes under the administrative control of the Ministry of Home Affairs. The IB activities are highly confidential, and no publications other than the internal ones reveal their arcane workings.

Source: Man posing as R&AW officer held in Noida, fake ID papers seized