Comment by Riaz Haq on January 25, 2015 at 12:28pm

In the secret world of intelligence, where trust is a commodity best not discussed, the US and India have emerged as very unlikely partners. The US is today the most important supplier of intelligence and information to India, from being a rival until a few years ago, sources across intelligence and security agencies say.

That doesn't mean that all is forgiven and all information is fully trusted. The Indian establishment is divided over the quality of information flowing from US agencies.

Cooperation picked up after the 911 attacks in 2001, when the AB Vajpayee government opened up its secret chests containing credible terror information from Af-Pak belt. Until then, there were periods of highs and lows. The shadow of the Cold War, when both sides distrusted each other, hung heavy. "Among our foreign partners the biggest flow of information is from US agencies.Many a times they're highly credible. I won't say always," says a retired chief of one intelligence agency.

Contacts between intelligence agencies of both sides are now almost institutionalized, with visits of senior RAW officials to CIA 's Langley headquarters almost part of the drill. Such contacts exist between other agencies too.

In New Delhi, liaison meetings between intelligence officers of both countries happen often. In fact, many concede the most frequent contact is with US officials.

Much of the information that comes from American intelligence agencies deals with terror. It's now a habit for Indians to expect regular inputs from the US on terror-related developments in Pakistan."It's not always a good sign. We shouldn't get so addicted to their information," says a former intelligence officer.

In most cases, these inputs transform into alerts that invariably become public, causing international concern.Many analysts caution that unfounded alerts have the possibility of adversely affecting India's image of being a stable investment destination.

Even as the two sides boost cooperation, some are also beginning to get worried. "US is one foreign power with the biggest vested interest in the region. We should be wary," one official says. Another argues that in a large number of US inputs, the information was found to be unreliable. "It's tricky and it's advisable to be cautious," he said.

For many in the security establishment, developments of the past decade, such as that of a senior RAW officer defecting to the US in 2004, have added to questions on the US's real motives in India.Their concerns have deepened with revelations surrounding David Coleman Headley.

Such concerns may not be officially placed in the quiet intelligence agency meetings.But for US agencies to enjoy free access deep into the Indian security establishment, their real motives will forever remain the biggest challenge.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Spy-games-Is-India-too-dep...

Comment by Riaz Haq on February 13, 2015 at 7:54am

India is sending its top foreign ministry official to Pakistan to resume talks after a six-month hiatus.

Taking advantage of the Cricket World Cup, where their teams play this weekend, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi tweeted Friday he spoke to his Pakistani counterpart Nawaz Sharif on the phone and offered to further strengthen ties.

Sharif welcomed the Indian official's proposed visit to Pakistan "to discuss all issues of common interest," Sharif's press secretary said in a statement in Islamabad. No dates have been announced for the visit.

Modi also said he spoke to leaders of some of India's other neighbors — Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Afghanistan — all cricket-mad nations participating in the sports competition being jointly hosted by Australia and New Zealand.

"Conveyed my best wishes for the Cricket World Cup," Modi said.

India's Foreign Secretary S. Jaishankar is also scheduled to visit Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Afghanistan apart from Pakistan, Modi said.

Last August, India called off talks with Pakistan after its ambassador in New Delhi met with Kashmiri separatist leaders, saying the Pakistani official could either talk with India, or talk with the rebels.

The setback came shortly after India and Pakistan had agreed to resume talks in May when Sharif attended Modi's inauguration.

As tensions increased, Indian and Pakistani troops exchanged fire regularly in the disputed Kashmir region.

India and Pakistan have used "cricket diplomacy" to break past impasses.

Then-Pakistan Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani met with then-Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in 2011 during a World Cup cricket match in the northern city of Chandigarh, using the same cover employed in 2005 by then-President Pervez Musharraf for a meeting with Singh during an India-Pakistan cricket match.

Then-President Ziaul Haq visited Jaipur, India, to watch a cricket match between the two countries in the 1980s.

Since their independence from Britain in 1947, India and Pakistan have fought three wars, two of them over Kashmir. Both countries control parts of the Himalayan region and claim it in its entirety.

http://www.utsandiego.com/news/2015/feb/13/india-to-resume-talks-wi...

Comment by Riaz Haq on February 14, 2015 at 10:55pm

In the secret world of intelligence, where trust is a commodity best not discussed, the US and India have emerged as very unlikely partners. The US is today the most important supplier of intelligence and information to India, from being a rival until a few years ago, sources across intelligence and security agencies say.

That doesn't mean that all is forgiven and all information is fully trusted. The Indian establishment is divided over the quality of information flowing from US agencies.

Cooperation picked up after the 911 attacks in 2001, when the AB Vajpayee government opened up its secret chests containing credible terror information from Af-Pak belt. Until then, there were periods of highs and lows. The shadow of the Cold War, when both sides distrusted each other, hung heavy. "Among our foreign partners the biggest flow of information is from US agencies.Many a times they're highly credible. I won't say always," says a retired chief of one intelligence agency.

Contacts between intelligence agencies of both sides are now almost institutionalized, with visits of senior RAW officials to CIA 's Langley headquarters almost part of the drill. Such contacts exist between other agencies too.

In New Delhi, liaison meetings between intelligence officers of both countries happen often. In fact, many concede the most frequent contact is with US officials.

Much of the information that comes from American intelligence agencies deals with terror. It's now a habit for Indians to expect regular inputs from the US on terror-related developments in Pakistan."It's not always a good sign. We shouldn't get so addicted to their information," says a former intelligence officer.

In most cases, these inputs transform into alerts that invariably become public, causing international concern.Many analysts caution that unfounded alerts have the possibility of adversely affecting India's image of being a stable investment destination.

Even as the two sides boost cooperation, some are also beginning to get worried. "US is one foreign power with the biggest vested interest in the region. We should be wary," one official says. Another argues that in a large number of US inputs, the information was found to be unreliable. "It's tricky and it's advisable to be cautious," he said.

For many in the security establishment, developments of the past decade, such as that of a senior RAW officer defecting to the US in 2004, have added to questions on the US's real motives in India.Their concerns have deepened with revelations surrounding David Coleman Headley.

Such concerns may not be officially placed in the quiet intelligence agency meetings.But for US agencies to enjoy free access deep into the Indian security establishment, their real motives will forever remain the biggest challenge.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Spy-games-Is-India-too-dep...

Comment by Riaz Haq on February 23, 2015 at 8:06am

Afghanistan's president, Hamid Karzai, has been sheltering a Pakistani rebel for several years, much to the annoyance of Pakistan's generals, US embassy cables show.

Brahamdagh Bugti, a leader of the nationalist insurgency in Balochistan province, emerges as a pawn in often stormy relations between Kabul and Islamabad that are spiced with intrigue and failed American efforts to broker a solution.

A stream of Pakistani demands for Bugti's return are stonewalled by Karzai; Bugti is accused of kidnapping a senior UN official; and the Islamabad CIA station chief is roped into an initiative to move Bugti to Ireland that turns out to be based on a false promise.

Bugti's case was a "neuralgic" one for Pakistani generals, Americans believed. The Bugtis are at the forefront of a rebellion that seeks greater economic and political autonomy for Balochistan, Pakistan's largest but least developed province.

The 20-something rebel fled Pakistan in 2006 after surviving a military assault that killed his grandfather, Nawab Akbar Khan Bugti. Since then Pakistani generals have frequently accused Kabul of secretly sheltering the young rebel.

In 2007, General Pervez Musharraf said Bugti was "enjoying freedom of movement to commute between Kabul and Kandahar, raising money and planning operations against Pakistani security forces".

When the US assistant secretary of state, Richard Boucher, said Karzai had promised that nobody would be allowed to use Afghan territory to attack Pakistan, Musharraf replied: "That's bullshit."

The controversy touches on one of the Pakistani military's core fears: that India could use Afghan-based proxy forces to foment upheaval in Pakistan.

In 2007 Musharraf said he had "ample proof" of Indian and Afghan support for Bugti; the prime minister, Shaukat Aziz, said Bugti had travelled to Delhi on a fake Afghan passport.

American analysis suggests the fear of Indian meddling helps explain Pakistan's support for militant proxies such as the Afghan Taliban; a view supported by a veiled threat Musharraf issued through a US diplomat. "If India wants to continue, let's see what our options will be," he reportedly said.

Karzai, meanwhile, has refused to bend to Pakistani demands to surrender Bugti, accusing Islamabad of using the issue to deflect attention from its support of the Taliban. "Fomenting uprising does not make one a terrorist," he said in one meeting before asking US officials to stop taking notes because the matter was "too sensitive".

In public, Afghan officials have consistently denied sheltering Bugti, but in a meeting with a senior UN official in February 2009, Karzai "finally admitted that Brahamdagh Bugti was in Kabul", the cables recorded.

The admission followed the kidnapping of a senior American UN official, John Solecki, in Balochistan. After Solecki was snatched from Quetta, Balochistan's capital, in early February, Pakistan's army chief, General Ashfaq Kayani, told the US he had phone intercepts that proved Bugti had orchestrated the kidnapping.

On 15 February, the US asked the UN secretary general, Ban Ki-moon, to call Karzai , urging him to speak with Bugti and have Solecki released. Karzai agreed, but said he doubted Bugti was involved. US officials later complained that Karzai was blocking American contact with the rebel.

Solecki was released on 4 April in Balochistan. Speaking to the Guardian by phone later that year, Bugti denied any role in the kidnapping, but admitted he was leading the fight against Pakistan's army.

"We want ownership of our own resources, our land, our coastal belt – nothing else," he said. "We want to solve this problem politically; nobody wants to use the gun. But because of what is happening the armed struggle is necessary." Bugti declined to say where he was speaking from.


http://www.theguardian.com/world/2010/nov/30/wikileaks-cables-afgha...

Comment by Riaz Haq on March 12, 2015 at 9:49pm

From Wall Street Journal: 

Three militant groups in Pakistan say they have joined forces, potentially giving that country’s Taliban insurgents more heft to resist a military campaign by the government and stepping up the general threat from extremist organizations.

A joint statement on Thursday said a splinter group from Mohmand, in the country’s tribal areas, had rejoined the main Pakistani Taliban faction, while Mangal Bagh, a warlord in the Khyber region who wasn’t previously part of the Taliban, had now allied himself and his followers with it.

“We warn the Pakistani infidel system, its agents and this apostate army that we will not let their plans succeed under any circumstances,” the statement said.

Pakistani security officials declined to comment.

The convergence comes as the governments of Pakistan and neighboring Afghanistan are making tentative efforts to bring the Afghan Taliban into peace talks. In recent months, relations between Pakistan and Afghanistan have dramatically improved, leading to action by Afghan forces against the Pakistani Taliban presence in their country.

The three militant groups, which have links to al Qaeda, hold sway over territory on both sides of the Pakistan-Afghanistan border, further complicating military measures against them.

Together, the three groups have influence over a chunk of the tribal areas—Mohmand, Bajaur and Khyber regions—as well as a presence in the bordering eastern Afghan provinces of Nangarhar, Kunar and Nuristan.

The three factions would now be under a united command, to be run by a committee for now. The groups didn’t name the overall head in their statement.

The only major militant faction now still outside of the Pakistani Taliban is the group led by a commander known as Sajna, who is based in Waziristan and has many fighters from the powerful Mehsud tribe under him.

The Pakistani Taliban are nominally loyal to Mullah Mohammad Omar, the elusive leader of the Afghan Taliban, but the Pakistani militants operate independently. The main Pakistani Taliban faction is led by a militant going by the name of Mullah Fazlullah, who the Pakistani government says is based in eastern Afghanistan.

“The Pakistan army is going after them like never before, so uniting is a question of survival for them,” said Saifullah Mahsud, executive director of the FATA Research Center, a think tank in Islamabad. “With the groups uniting, the threat [from extremists] increases.”

The announcement comes as Islamic State, the militant group that holds large swaths of territory in Syria and Iraq, makes inroads into Pakistan and Afghanistan. Some Pakistani Taliban leaders have pledged allegiance to Islamic State, and officials in Islamabad and Kabul worry more militants might make the switch if the Afghan Taliban conclude a peace settlement with the Afghan government.

The Pakistani Taliban splinter group from Mohmand is a particularly hard-line faction, which had opposed the peace talks held by the Pakistani government with the Pakistani Taliban in early 2014. It also has influence in Bajaur, another key tribal area.

The warlord Mr. Bagh brings significant manpower to the militants’ table, along with a network located on the edge of Peshawar, the most significant city in Pakistan’s northwest. And the main land route for transporting supplies in and out of Afghanistan passes through the Khyber region, where his group operates.

In June, the army unleashed a major offensive that is still under way against the Pakistani Taliban base in North Waziristan, part of the tribal areas along the Afghan border. An operation was later launched in Khyber.

The Pakistani Taliban, responsible for some of the bloodiest attacks against security forces and civilians in the country, have been on the defensive since then. The group claimed responsibility for a massacre at a school in Peshawar in December that left more than 130 children dead.


http://www.wsj.com/articles/three-pakistan-militant-groups-ally-to-...

Comment by Riaz Haq on May 21, 2015 at 4:47pm

Excepts from Mission R&AW by RK Yadav:

Pakhtunistan:

Page 21

" Wali Khan (son of Abul Ghaffar Khan) wanted moral, political and other support from Mrs. Indira Gandhi. R.N. Kao sent hs deputy Sankaran Nair to negotiate as the Indian representative. Since Pakistan embassy was keeping watch on the movements of Wali Khan, the rendezvous was shifted to Copenhagen in Sweden where Nair and another R&AW man of Indian mission I.S. Hassanwalia met Wali Khan. Subsequently all sorts of Indian Government till 1977 when Indira Gandhi lost election". 


Agartala Conspiracy:

Page 197

"In view of the disclosures of S.K. Nair, it is evidently true that Mujib was implicated in the Agartala Consiracy case at the instance of Pakistan Government. However, it is also true that other accused in this case were certainly agents of Intelligence Bureau (IB) in India"

Fokker Hijacking in Srinagar:

Page 227:

There was an agent of R&AW-Hashim Qureshi in Srinagar.......R&AW persuaded Hashim Qureshi to work for them....A plan was devised that Qureshi would be allowed to hijack a plane of Indian Airlines rom Srinagar Airport to Lahore where he would demand the release of 36 members of Al-Fatah who were in jail in India in lieu of the passengers on the plane. He was directed not to give control of the plane to he Pakistani authorities until he was allowed to talk to Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, Chairman of the Pakistan Peoples Party, who was the chief architect of instigating political turmoil in Pakistan at the time....After the plan was given final shaoe, on January 30, 1971, Hashim Qureshi along with another operative Ashraf Qureshi, his relative, was allowed to hijack a Fokker Friendship plane Ganga of Indian Airlines with 26 passengers on board, to take the plane to Lahore airport. R&AW allowed him to carry a grenade and a toy pistol inside the plane. Pakisani authorities at Lahore airport allowed the plane to land when they were informed that it had been hijacked by National Liberation Front activist militants of Pakistan Occupied Kashmir. All India Radio soon made broadcast of this hijacking and the whole world was informed that the Pakistan Government was behind this hijacking. Qureshi, as directed by R&AW, demanded the release of 36 Al-Fatah members in custody of Indian Government....The incident overtly gave India the right opportunity which was planned by R.N. Kao, to cancel the flights of Pakistan over its territory which hampered the plans of Yahya Khan to send its troops by air o curb the political movement of Mujib in East Pakistan. 



Mukti Bahini: 

Page 231

Mukti Bahinin-Brain Child of R.N. Kao

Since the Indian Army was not prepared and well-equipped to r an immediate army actio at that point (March 1971), it was planned to raise and train a guerrilla outfit of the Bengali refugees of East Pakistan by R&AW which would harass the Pakistan Army till the Indian Army would be ready for the final assault to the liberation of East Pakistan. She (Indira Gandhi) then asked R.N. Kao, Chief of R&AW, to prepare all possible grounds for the army for its final assault when the clearance from General Maneckshaw was received for its readiness for the war. 

Page 242

"..He (Kader Siddiqui) was the main operative of R&AW in the most vital areas of strategic operation around Dacca. He was serving Pakistani Army when his brother brought him back to East Pakistan to complete his interrupted education just prior to the crackdown of the Pakistan Army. Kader...." 

http://www.scribd.com/doc/232097939/Mission-R-AW-Scanned-Book#scribd

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