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DEFENCE: INTELLIGENCE REVAMP
The New Order
The intelligence set-up gets
a makeover: a new organisation answerable to the NSA. But will the top-order
changes be enough to improve threat assessment?
By Shishir Gupta
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Advani (centre) flanked by Yashwant Sinha (left) and Jaswant Singh
presenting the GoM recommendations
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Walk into the room
of the military intelligence pointsman on Pakistan and you will be greeted
by a signboard saying, "What I can predict with certainty is the
first lesson after the next war-intelligence failure." From the Kandahar
hijacking to the Kargil conflict, the Indian intelligence agencies-Research
and Analysis Wing (RAW), Intelligence Bureau (IB) and Military Intelligence
(mi)-have been in the limelight more for rivalry and one-upmanship than
for action-oriented intelligence inputs. The problem has been compounded
by the tendency of the RAW and IB to report directly to the Prime Minister's
Office or the political bosses, leaving the apex intelligence coordinating
agency, the National Security Council Secretariat (NSCS), bereft of vital
inputs.
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IB:
BIGGER BUDGET
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# The IB, along with the RAW and newly-formed
DIA, come under the Intelligence Coordination Group headed by the
National Security Adviser.
# Advanced radio and communication interception
equipment sanctioned to improve surveillance.
# Bigger budget and additional manpower
approved for collecting intelligence.
# Personnel to be trained for deciphering
cyber codes and better linguistic skills.
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Though the government has been debating structural
changes in the intelligence set-up since the 1993 Mumbai blasts, the massive
intelligence failure in Kargil was the turning point when the Union Cabinet
finally gave the go-ahead for a revamp. On May 23, the recommendations
of the Group of Ministers on "Reforming the National Security System"
were made public by Union Home Minister L.K. Advani without revealing,
however, the crucial structural changes to monitor the intelligence agencies.
India Today learns that in a significant development,
the NSCS has given way to an all-powerful Intelligence Coordination Group
(ICG) under the National Security Adviser (NSA). All the intelligence
agencies will now be answerable to the NSA under the rubric of the ICG,
which in turn will prepare the strategic intelligence assessment report
for the government. The intelligence-gathering network within the armed
forces has also been streamlined with the setting up of a Defence Intelligence
Agency (DIA). Headed by a three-star general, the DIA will collate inputs
from the army, air force and naval intelligence and assess the threat
along the borders.
The lacunae in the NSCS functioning were revealed
during the Kargil war. The Subrahmanyam Committee report states that only
11 out of the 45 inputs considered vital to assess Pakistani moves in
the Kargil sector were shared by the intelligence agencies with the NSCS.
Due to insufficient intelligence, the Pakistani game plan was not reflected
in the overall strategic assessment paper prepared prior to the conflict.
According to M.K. Narayanan, former IB director
and member of the task force on intelligence, the constitution of ICG
will bring about a qualitative change in the intelligence apparatus. "Earlier,
the JIC chairman or the NSC secretary were treated as equals by the RAW
and IB chiefs, not as superiors. With the NSA at the top, the ICG will
be part of the demand generation and implementation mechanism," he
says.
Under the new dispensation, the heads of the
RAW, IB and the DIA will hold monthly meetings with the NSA, and the ICG
will prepare a strategic assessment report after analysing the available
intelligence inputs. This will ensure that the intelligence gathered by
a particular agency is monitored and shared with sister outfits to avoid
duplication and prevent the information from becoming redundant. The NSA
will also chart the future course of action in consultation with the heads
of other intelligence agencies to identify the areas that need immediate
focus. According to B. Raman, former additional secretary, RAW, and member
of the National Security Advisory Board (NSAB), the ICG gives NSA the
power to monitor the agencies' performance and pull them up if they are
found lacking.
Supporting the ICG will be the Technical Coordination
Group (TCG) and the National Technical Facility Organisation (NTFO). The
TCG will be headed by the NSA and will provide intelligence inputs after
interpreting information gathered through various sources. The NTFO, headed
by a reputed scientist, will identify equipment requirements such as spy
satellites. At present, India has limited means to gather satellite, electronic
or communication-based intelligence. The country's remote-sensing satellites
(irs-1C/1D) provide pictures which can at best identify linear features
such as canals, roads or embankments. As India does not have a spy satellite,
it garners tactical intelligence by purchasing finer imagery from foreign
sources. These can show detailed deployment of forces and even pinpoint
terrorist camps in Pakistan Occupied Kashmir (PoK).
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