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To all unnamed
and faceless R&AW sleuths
Contents
Foreword by Ajit Doval
Preface
Prologue
ONE Not an Easy Start
TWO Joining the IP, Shifting to IB
THREE Ramji: The Gentle Giant
FOUR The Kashmir Princess Investigation
FIVE Running into a Roadblock
SIX Of Observing People and Places
SEVEN The Ghana Assignment
EIGHT The 1962 Shock and the Formation of ARC
NINE The Pressing Need for a Foreign Intelligence Agency
TEN Watching the Neighbourhood
ELEVEN The Crackdown in East Pakistan
TWELVE RNK and the R&AW in Top Gear
THIRTEEN Shepherding Sikkim’s Merger
FOURTEEN The Final Innings
Appendix
Foreword
This initiative of the Research & Analysis Wing (R&AW) to publish the
memoirs of its founding father, Rameshwar Nath Kao, is a pioneering
effort that needs to be commended.
For any member of India’s intelligence community, it would be a
cherished ambition to be called upon to write a foreword for a book on one
of its tallest doyens, such Ramji Kao, as he was known to his friends,
relatives and well-wishers. I am no exception.
Ramji Kao straddled the world of secret intelligence in India’s formative
years as a nation. Deputed to the Intelligence Bureau (IB) in 1947 and
trained under the watchful eyes of the legendary Bhola Nath Mullik post-
Independence, Mr Kao emerged as an institution builder par excellence and
an epitome of professional excellence and exemplary personal conduct.
Humble, suave, intellectual and modest, Ramji Kao left an indelible imprint
on anyone he met or interacted with.
His exploits are legendary. Whether it was the professionalism with
which he conducted the ‘Kashmir Princess’ probe in the mid-1950s, his
contributions in the liberation of Bangladesh in 1971 or the role in ensuring
Sikkim’s merger with India, he always brought to bear his sage counsel and
leadership qualities to deliver desired results.
Ramji Kao also had many firsts to his credit. A close adviser and
security chief to three Indian Prime Ministers, he was one of the founding
fathers of the Directorate General of Security (DGS) in the aftermath of the
disasterous Sino-Indian conflict in 1962.
Later, he went on to head, as the first Chief, the Aviation Research
Centre (ARC) and the Research & Analysis Wing (R&AW)—two of India’s
foremost intelligence agencies that were created in the 1960s. It is a fitting
tribute to his leadership skills that within three years of the creation of the
R&AW in September 1968, the organisation went on to play a sterling role
in the 1971 India-Pakistan War.
A multi-talented genius, Ramji Kao also pursued his passions in the
artistic and creative fields. Being a quintessential sculptor—‘he was good
with wood, clay and stone’, according to the author—it is no surprise that
he used this talent to curate some of the finest intelligence organisations in
Independent India’s history. He also mentored two generations of R&AW
sleuths, many of whom have come to be known as ‘Kaoboys’. Those who
worked with him swear by his human qualities, eye for detail, meticulous
grooming and affable nature.
What is less known about Ramji Kao is the fact that in the months before
his death, he meticulously recorded for posterity his reminisces in a tape-
recorder. He even corrected the transcripts, but with the proviso that these
tapes should be gradually opened to the public after his death.
I am happy that finally Mr Kao’s work is being organised in the form of
a biography. Written by well-known strategic affairs analyst and author,
Nitin A. Gokhale, it is a worthy tribute to man who nurtured important
institutions through their fledgling years. Gokhale, who has an impressive
body of work on national security affairs, has aptly captured the
professional journey of Kao and simultaneously flagged key milestones in
the R&AW’s journey so far.
Personally, blessed by Ramji Kao’s 99-year-old wife, Malini Kao, I am
sure this book will be read with great interest not only by intelligence
professionals but also by common citizens in the years to come.
September 2019 Ajit Doval
National Security Adviser
New Delhi
Preface
Where does one begin to chronicle the life and times of a colossus like
Rameshwar Nath Kao? Does one begin with his greatest moment of
glory in contributing to the liberation of East Pakistan and the formation of
Bangladesh in 1971? Or the fact that he was the founder of one of the
world’s best spy agencies, the R&AW? Does one talk about his fiercely
private personality? Or his wide-ranging contacts in the secretive world of
espionage? For an author like me, it had to be a combination of the personal
and the professional to try and capture the essence of Kao, the man, the
legend.
Somewhere deep in the archives of the Nehru Memorial Museum and
Library (NMML), in the heart of New Delhi, lies a set of papers that
researchers and historians interested in recording the history of Indian
intelligence would love to get their hands on. Alas, only part of those papers
—transcripts of tape-recorded dictations left behind by Kao—are currently
available. Three crucial files on Bangladesh, the merger of Sikkim and Mrs
Indira Gandhi’s assassination will not be open until 2025, according to
instructions left behind by him, months before he passed away in January
2002.
Since those tapes and papers are not public, this biography of
Rameshwar Nath Kao—RNK or ‘Ramji’ to his friends, colleagues and
family—had to depend on the personal memories of a vast array of
individuals who knew him in different capacities and their interpretation of
