title: Paul Kagame

text: The referendum took place on 18 December 2015, with Rwandans overseas voting on 17 December. The amendment was approved by the electorate, with 6.16 million voters saying yes, approximately of the votes. The electoral commission stated that the vote had been peaceful and orderly. The Democratic Green Party, the most prominent domestic group opposing the change, protested that it had not been permitted to campaign openly against the amendment. Human Rights Watch executive director Ken Roth announced on Twitter that he did not believe the election to be free and fair, saying there was "no suspense in Rwanda referendum when so many dissidents silenced, civil society stifled". The amendment itself was criticised by the European Union and also the United States, which released a statement saying that Kagame should respect the previous term limits and "foster a new generation of leaders in Rwanda". Kagame responded that it was not his own decision to seek a third term, but that the parliament and the people had demanded it.


title: Paul Kagame

text: In accordance with the constitutional change, a presidential election was held in August 2017. The highest-profile opposition figure for the 2017 election was local businesswoman Diane Rwigara. Although she acknowledged that "much has improved under Kagame", Rwigara was also critical of Kagame's government, saying that "people disappear, others get killed in unexplained circumstances and nobody speaks about this because of fear". Like Ingabire in 2010, Rwigara was barred from running in the election. Kagame was endorsed as the RPF's candidate for the election in mid-June, and began his re-election campaign in mid-July with a rally in Ruhango.


title: Paul Kagame

text: After three weeks of campaigning, concluding with a large rally in Gasabo District, the election went ahead between Kagame and two opposition candidates. Kagame was re-elected for a third term with of the vote, his highest percentage to date. He was sworn in for another seven-year term on 18 August. As with his previous victories, independent monitors and human rights organisations cited irregularities and intimidation in the conduct of the election. Cheeseman and Klaas said in their book that he had "not even bothered to try and manipulate the election in the clever ways" he had used in previous campaigns.


title: Paul Kagame

text: In the late 1990s, Kagame began actively planning methods to achieve national development. He launched a national consultation process and also sought the advice of experts from emerging nations including China, Singapore and Thailand. Following these consultations, and shortly after assuming the presidency, Kagame launched an ambitious programme of national development called Vision 2020. The major purposes of the programme were to unite the Rwandan people and to transform Rwanda from a highly impoverished into a middle income country. The programme consists of a list of goals which the government aims to achieve before the year 2020. These include reconstruction, infrastructure and transport improvements, good governance, improving agriculture production, private sector development, and health and education improvements.


title: Paul Kagame

text: In 2011, the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning (MINECOFIN) issued a report indicating the progress of the Vision 2020 goals. The report examined the stated goals of the programme and rated each one with a status of "on-track", "on-watch" or "off-track". Of 44 goals, it found that were on-track, were on-watch, and were off-track. The major areas identified as off-track were population, poverty and the environment. By 2012, MINECOFIN's review found that 26% of Vision 2020's original indicators had already been achieved. While also highlighting key areas for improvement, the review made several upward revisions, including revising the GDP per capita target from $900 to $1,240. In the same year, an independent review of the strategy carried out by academics based in Belgium rated progress as "quite encouraging", mentioning development in the education and health sectors, as well as Kagame's fostering of a favourable business environment. The review also raised concerns about the policy of "maximum growth at any cost", suggesting that this was leading to a situation in which the rich prospered while the rural poor saw little benefit.


title: Paul Kagame

text: Upon completion of the programme in December 2020, Kagame announced Vision 2050, remarking that "Vision 2020 was about what we had to do in order to survive and regain our dignity. But Vision 2050 has to be about the future we choose, because we can, and because we deserve it." Vision 2050 focuses around the two main pillars of Economic Growth and Prosperity and High Quality of Life and Standards of Life for Rwandans. Vision 2050 is the programmatic articulation of Kagame's ambition for Rwanda to become an upper-middle income country by 2035, and a high-income country by 2050.


title: Paul Kagame

text: Rwanda's economy has grown rapidly under Kagame's presidency, with per-capita gross domestic product (purchasing power parity) estimated at $2,214 in 2020, compared with $631 in 2000. Annual growth between 2000 and 2020 averaged per year. Kagame's economic policy is based on liberalising the economy, reducing red tape for businesses, and transforming the country from an agricultural to a knowledge-based economy. Kagame has stated that he believes Rwanda can emulate the economic development of Singapore since 1960. Kagame, as set out in the national Vision 2050 Policy, believes that Rwanda can become an upper-middle income country by 2035, and a high-income country by 2050.


title: Paul Kagame

text: Kagame's economic policy has been praised by many foreign donors and investors, including Bill Clinton and Starbucks chairman Howard Schultz. The country is also recognized internationally for its effective institutions and low levels of corruption.


title: Paul Kagame

text: Rwanda has also illegally exploited Congolese minerals, which is an important aspect of the success of Rwanda's economy. Political economy researcher Stefaan Marysse estimated that in 1999, 6.1% of Rwanda's GDP came from illegal resource extraction in the DRC. In 2013, foreign aid made up over 20 percent of GDP and nearly half of the budget. Economic growth has disproportionally accrued to elites in the capital while rural areas lag behind. Although the government officially has a policy of privatization, in practice it has increased state control of the economy using corporations with strong ties to the state and the ruling party.


title: Paul Kagame

text: Rwanda is a country of few natural resources, and the economy is heavily dependent on subsistence agriculture, with an estimated of the working population engaged in farming. Under Kagame's presidency, the service sector has grown strongly. In 2010, it became the country's largest sector by economic output, contributing of the country's GDP. Key tertiary contributors include banking and finance, wholesale and retail trade, hotels and restaurants, transport, storage, communication, insurance, real estate, business services, and public administration, including education and health. Information and communications technology (ICT) is a Vision 2020 priority, with a goal of transforming Rwanda into an ICT hub for Africa. To this end, the government has completed a fibre-optic telecommunications network, intended to provide broadband services and facilitate electronic commerce. Tourism is one of the fastest-growing economic resources and became the country's leading foreign exchange earner in 2011.


title: Paul Kagame

text: Rwanda ranks highly in several categories of the World Bank's ease of doing business index. In 2005, after the country was ranked 158th on the Ease of Doing Business Index, Kagame set up a special unit to analyze the economy and provide solutions to easing business. As a result, the country topped the list of reformers in 2009. In 2012, the country's overall ease of doing business index ranking was 52nd out of 185 countries worldwide, and third out of 46 in Sub-Saharan Africa. It was eighth on the 2012 rankings for ease of starting a business; the Rwanda Development Board asserts that a business can be authorised and registered in 24 hours. The business environment and economy also benefit from relatively low corruption in the country; in 2010, Transparency International ranked Rwanda as the eighth cleanest out of 47 countries in Sub-Saharan Africa and sixty-sixth cleanest out of 178 in the world.


title: Paul Kagame

text: Kagame has made education for youth in Rwanda a high priority for his administration, allocating of the annual budget to the sector. The Rwandan government provides free education in state-run schools for twelve years: six years in primary and six in secondary school. The final three years of free education were introduced in 2012 following a pledge by Kagame during his 2010 re-election campaign. Kagame credits his government with improvements in the tertiary education sector; the number of universities has risen from 1 in 1994 to 29 in 2010, and the tertiary gross enrollment ratio increased from in 2008 to in 2011. From 1994 until 2009, secondary education was offered in either French or English; since 2009, due to the country's increasing ties with the East African Community and the Commonwealth of Nations, English has been the sole language of instruction in public schools from primary school grade 4 onward. The country's literacy rate, defined as those aged 15 or over who can read and write, was in 2009, up from 58% in 1991 and 38% in 1978.


title: Paul Kagame

text: Rwanda's health profile is dominated by communicable diseases, including malaria, pneumonia, and HIV/AIDS. Prevalence and mortality rates have sharply declined in the past decade but the short supply or unavailability of certain medicines continues to challenge disease management. Kagame's government is seeking to improve this situation as one of the Vision 2020 priorities. It has increased funding, with the health budget up from of national expenditure in 1996 to in 2008. It also set up training institutes, including the Kigali Health Institute (KHI), and in 2008 effected laws making health insurance mandatory for all individuals; by 2010, over of the population was covered. These policies have contributed to a steady increase in quality of healthcare and improvement in key indicators during Kagame's presidency. In 2010, 91 children died before their fifth birthday for every 1000 live births, down from 163 under five deaths for every 1000 live births in 1990. Prevalence of some diseases is declining, including the elimination of maternal and neonatal tetanus and a sharp reduction in malaria morbidity, mortality rate, and specific lethality. In response to shortages in qualified medical personnel, in 2011 the Rwandan government launched an eight-year US$151.8 million initiative to train medical professionals.


title: Paul Kagame

text: Kagame has garnered praise for the country's response to the ongoing global COVID-19 pandemic. Despite the country having a relatively underdeveloped health care system, Rwanda has one of the lowest infection and mortality rates in the world, and is seen as a success story. Rwanda is currently the only nation in Africa whose residents are permitted to enter the Schengen Area for non essential travel. Rwanda's response has not been without its criticisms, in particular the curbing of civil liberties and individual freedoms. By April 2022. Rwanda was one of the few countries in Africa to have fully vaccinated over 60% of its population against COVID-19.


title: Paul Kagame

text: The Second Congo War, which began in 1998, was still raging when Kagame assumed the presidency in 2000. Namibia, Angola, Zimbabwe, and Chad had committed troops to the Congolese government side, while Rwanda, Uganda, and Burundi were supporting rebel groups. The rebel group Rally for Congolese Democracy (RCD) had split in 1999 into two factions: the RCD-Goma, supported by Rwanda, and the RCD-Kisangani, which was allied to Uganda. Uganda also supported the Movement for the Liberation of the Congo (MLC), a rebel group from the north. All these rebel groups were at war with Kabila's government in Kinshasa, but were also increasingly hostile to each other. Various peace meetings had been held, culminating in the July 1999 Lusaka Ceasefire Agreement which was signed by Kabila, Kagame and all the other foreign governments. The rebel groups were not party to the agreement, and fighting continued. The RPA continued to be heavily involved in the Congo War during 2000, fighting battles against the Ugandan army in Kisangani and against Kabila's army in Kasai and Katanga.


title: Paul Kagame

text: In January 2001, Kabila was assassinated inside his palace. His son Joseph was appointed president and immediately began asserting his authority by dismissing his father's cabinet and senior army commanders, assembling a new government, and engaging with the international community. The new government provided impetus for renewed peace negotiations, and in July 2002 a peace agreement was reached between Rwanda, Congo, and the other major participants, in which all foreign troops would withdraw and RCD-Goma would enter a power-sharing transitional government with Joseph Kabila as interim president until elections could be held. Kagame's government announced at the end of 2002 that all uniformed Rwandan troops had left Congolese territory, but this was contradicted by a 2003 report by UN panel of experts. According to this report, the Rwandan army contained a dedicated "Congo desk" which used the armed forces for large-scale illegal appropriation of Congolese resources.


title: Paul Kagame

text: Despite the agreement and subsequent ceasefire, relations between Kagame and the Congolese government remained tense. Kagame blamed the DRC for failing to suppress the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR), Rwandan Hutu rebels operating in North and South Kivu provinces. Kabila accused Rwanda of using the Hutu as a "pretext for maintaining its control and influence in the area". There has been ongoing conflict in Congo's eastern provinces since 2004, during which Kagame has backed two major insurgencies. This included a major rebellion from 2005 to 2009, led by Congolese Tutsi Laurent Nkunda, as well as the a rebellion carried out by the March 23 Movement (M23) under leader Bosco Ntaganda, beginning in 2012. A leaked United Nations report in 2012 cited Kagame's defence minister James Kabarebe as being effectively the commander of the M23. Relations have improved since 2016, as Kagame held a bilateral meeting with Kabila in Gisenyi. When Félix Tshisekedi was elected DRC president in 2019, Kagame – the AU chairman at the time – unsuccessfully called for an AU investigation into the poll. Despite this, he has developed a close relationship with Tshisekedi since the latter's election, with summits in both Kinshasa and Kigali. As of 2020, Kagame still faces accusations that Rwanda's troops are active within the Kivu provinces. Congolese officials such as Walikale member of parliament Juvénal Munubo, as well as civilians, have reported sighting RDF soldiers in the DRC, but Kagame consistently denies these claims.


title: Paul Kagame

text: Kagame spent most of his childhood and young adult years living in Uganda, and has a personal relationship with President Yoweri Museveni dating back to the late 1970s; they fought together in the Ugandan Bush War, and Kagame was appointed head of military intelligence in Museveni's national army following the NRA victory in 1986. When the RPF soldiers abandoned the Ugandan army and invaded Rwanda in 1990, Museveni did not explicitly support them, but according to Prunier it is likely that he had prior knowledge of the plan. Museveni also allowed the RPF safe passage through Ugandan territory to the Virunga mountains after their early defeats in the war, and revealed in a 1998 heads of state meeting that Uganda had helped the RPF materially during the Rwandan Civil War. Following the RPF victory, the two countries enjoyed a close political and trade relationship.


title: Paul Kagame

text: Rwanda and Uganda were allies during the First Congo War against Zaire, with both countries being instrumental in the setting up of the AFDL and committing troops to the war. The two nations joined forces again at the beginning of the Second Congo War, but relations soured in late 1998 as Museveni and Kagame had very different priorities in fighting the war. In early 1999, the RCD rebel group split into two, with Rwanda and Uganda supporting opposing factions, and in August the Rwandan and Ugandan armies battled each other with heavy artillery in the Congolese city of Kisangani. The two sides fought again in Kisangani in May and June 2000, causing the deaths of 120 soldiers and around 640 Congolese civilians. Relations slowly thawed in the 2000s, and by 2011 the two countries enjoyed a close friendship once more. Further conflict between Kagame and Museveni arose in early 2019, as the two countries conflicted over trade and regional politics. Kagame accused Museveni's government of supporting the FDLR and harassing Rwandan nationals in Uganda, leading Rwanda to set up a blockade of trucks at the border. Museveni accused Rwanda of sending troops into its territory, including an incident in Rukiga district in which a Ugandan citizen was killed. The Rwanda–Uganda border reopened on January 31st, 2022.


title: Paul Kagame

text: In 2007, Rwanda joined the East African Community, an intergovernmental organisation for the East Africa region comprising Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania, Burundi, and Rwanda. The country's accession required the signing of various agreements with the other members, including a defence intelligence sharing pact, a customs union, and measures to combat drug trafficking. The countries of the Community established a common market in 2011, and plan further integration, including moves toward political federation. The community has also set up an East African Monetary Institute, which aims to introduce a single currency by 2024.


title: Paul Kagame

text: France maintained close ties with President Habyarimana during his years in power, as part of its "Françafrique" policy. When the RPF launched the Rwandan Civil War in 1990, Habyarimana was immediately granted assistance from the President of France, François Mitterrand. France sent 600 paratroopers, who effectively ran the government's response to the invasion and were instrumental in regaining almost all territory the RPF had gained in the first days of the war. France maintained this military presence throughout the war, engaging Kagame's RPF forces again in February 1993 during the offensive that doubled RPF territory. In the later stages of the 1994 Rwandan genocide, France launched "Opération Turquoise", a United Nations mandated mission to create safe humanitarian areas for protection of displaced persons, refugees, and civilians in danger; many Rwandans interpreted it as a mission to protect Hutu from the RPF, including some who had participated in the genocide. The French remained hostile to the RPF, and their presence temporarily stalled Kagame's advance in southwestern Rwanda.


title: Paul Kagame

text: France continued to shun the new RPF government following the end of the genocide and the withdrawal of "Opération Turquoise". Diplomatic relations were finally reestablished in January 1995, but remained tense as Rwanda accused France of aiding the "genocidaires", while France defended its interventions. In 2006, French judge Jean-Louis Bruguière released a report on the assassination of President Habyarimana which concluded that Kagame had ordered the shooting of the plane. Bruguière subsequently issued arrest warrants for nine of Kagame's close aides. Kagame denied the charges and immediately broke off diplomatic relations with France. Relations began to thaw in 2008, and diplomacy was resumed in late 2009. In 2010, Nicolas Sarkozy became the first French president to visit Rwanda since the genocide, admitting for the first time that France made "grave errors of judgment". Kagame reciprocated with an official visit to Paris in 2011.


title: Paul Kagame

text: Since the end of the Rwandan genocide in 1994, Rwanda has enjoyed a close relationship with the English speaking world, in particular the United States (US) and United Kingdom (UK). The two countries have been highly supportive of the RPF programme of stabilisation and rebuilding, with the UK donating large sums each year in budget support, and the US providing military aid as well as supporting development projects. As president, Kagame has been critical of the West's lack of response to the genocide, and the UK and US have responded by admitting guilt over the issue: Bill Clinton, who was President of the United States during the genocide, has described his failure to act against the killings as a "personal failure". During the 2000s, Clinton and UK prime minister Tony Blair praised the country's progress under Kagame, citing it as a model recipient for international development funds, and Clinton referred to Kagame as "one of the greatest leaders of our time". Both Clinton and Blair have maintained support for the country beyond the end of their terms of office, Clinton via the Clinton Global Initiative and Blair through his role as an unpaid advisor to the Rwandan government.


title: Paul Kagame

text: As part of his policy of maintaining close relations with English speaking countries, Kagame sought membership of the Commonwealth of Nations, which was granted in 2009. Rwanda was only the second country, after Mozambique, to join the Commonwealth having never had colonial links to the British Empire. Kagame attended the subsequent Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Perth, Australia, addressing the Business Forum. Rwanda also successfully applied for a rotating seat on the United Nations Security Council in 2012, taking over the presidency of that organisation in April 2013.


title: Paul Kagame

text: Kagame's relations with the US and UK came under strain in the early 2010s, following allegations that Rwanda is supporting the M23 rebel movement in Eastern Congo. The UK suspended its budgetary aid programme in 2012, freezing a £21 million donation. Other European nations such as Germany also suspended general budgetary support from 2008 onwards. Payments by these countries were gradually restored from 2013, but took the form of sector budgetary support and support for specific programmes. The US also froze some of its military aid programme for Rwanda in 2012, although it stopped short of suspending aid altogether. By 2020, the US remained supportive of Kagame's government and was Rwanda's largest bilateral donor.


title: Paul Kagame

text: China has been investing in Rwandan infrastructure since 1971, with early projects including hospitals in Kibungo and Masaka. Under Kagame's presidency, trade between the two countries has grown rapidly. The volume of trade increased five-fold between 2005 and 2009, and it doubled again in the following three years, being worth US$160 million in 2012. Projects completed include the renovation of the Kigali road network, funded using a Chinese government loan and undertaken by China Road and Bridge Corporation; the Kigali City Tower, which was built by China Civil Engineering Construction; and a pay television service operated by Star Media.


title: Paul Kagame

text: Kagame has been vocal in his praise of China and its model for relations with Africa, saying in a 2009 interview that "the Chinese bring what Africa needs: investment and money for governments and companies". This is in contrast to Western countries, whom Kagame accuses of focussing too heavily on giving aid to the continent rather than building a trading relationship; he also believes that they keep African products out of the world marketplace by the use of high tariffs. China does not openly involve itself in the domestic affairs of the countries with which it trades, hence has not followed the West in criticising Kagame's alleged involvement in the war in the Congo.


title: Paul Kagame

text: Kagame's ultimate goal in international relations is to shift Rwanda from a country dependent on donor aid and loans towards self-sufficiency, trading with other countries on an equal footing. In a 2009 article, Kagame wrote that "the primary purpose of aid should ultimately be to work itself out", and should therefore focus on self-sufficiency and building private sector development. Kagame cited an example of donor countries providing free fertilisers to farmers; he believes this to be wrong because it undercuts local fertiliser businesses, preventing them from growing and becoming competitive. In 2012, Kagame launched the Agaciro Development Fund, following proposals made at a national dialogue session in 2011. Agaciro is a solidarity fund whose goal is to provide development finance sourced within Rwanda, supplementing aid already received from overseas. The fund invites contributions from Rwandan citizens, within the country and in the diaspora, as well as private companies and "friends of Rwanda". The fund will allocate its funds based on consultations with the populace, as well as financing projects contributing to the Vision 2020 programme.


title: Paul Kagame

text: Throughout Kagame's tenure as vice president and president, he has been linked with murders and disappearances of political opponents, both in Rwanda and abroad. In a 2014 report titled "Repression Across Borders", Human Rights Watch documents at least 10 cases involving attacks or threats against critics outside Rwanda since the late 1990s, citing their criticism of the Rwandan government, the RPF or Kagame. Examples include the killing of Sendashonga in 1998, the assassination attempts against Nyamwasa in South Africa, as well as the murder of former intelligence chief Patrick Karegeya in South Africa on 31 December 2013. Speaking about Karegeya's killing, Kagame spoke of his approval, saying "whoever betrays the country will pay the price, I assure you". In 2015, a former Rwandan military officer testified before the U.S. Congress that the Rwandan government had offered him $1 million to assassinate Karegeya as well as Kagame critic General Kayumba Nyamwasa. After his testimony, this officer himself faced threats in Belgium as did a Canadian journalist. In December 2017, a South African court found that the Rwandan government continued to plot the assassination of its critics overseas.


title: Paul Kagame

text: Kagame served as Chairperson of the African Union from 28 January 2018 to 10 February 2019. As Chair, Kagame promoted the Single African Air Transport Market (SAATM) and the African Continental Free Trade Area. The proposed Continental Free Trade Area was signed on 21 March 2018 by 44 of the 55 AU nations. By the time he left office in February 2019, the Continental Free Trade had already been ratified by 19 of the 22 nations needed for it to officially go into effect. Kagame also pushed through a reform of African Union structures in an effort to improve their effectiveness and make them financially sustainable.


title: Paul Kagame

text: Views on his leadership vary widely amongst international scholars and journalists. According to political scientist Alexander Dukalskis, Kagame has been adept in developing a sophisticated positive image of Rwanda abroad. Duklaskis says that to suppress negative information, the Kagame regime has curtailed access to academics and journalists, and threatened and assassinated critics of the regime. Others, such as Philip Gourevitch, author of the 1998 book "We Wish to Inform You That Tomorrow We Will Be Killed with Our Families", focus on his achievements in ending the genocide after the international community failed to do so, as well as the reconciliation, economic growth, foreign investment, improved public health and education. This is countered by authors such as Judi Rever, who highlight war crimes committed by the RPF before, during, and after the 1994 genocide, the effects of the civil war, assassinations of opponents and the totalitarianism of his regime. In "Rethinking the Rwandan Narrative for the 25th Anniversary", Gerald Caplan states that a new narrative is required to reconcile these conflicting viewpoints, incorporating aspects from both points of view and "striking the proper balance between the old and the newly revised".


title: Paul Kagame

text: In Rwanda, Kagame's RPF is seen as a Tutsi-dominated party, and in the years following the 1994 genocide, it was deeply unpopular with the Hutu, who constitute of the population. Approximately two million Hutu lived as refugees in neighbouring countries until 1996, when Kagame forced them to return home. Many Hutu also supported the late 1990s cross-border insurgency against Kagame by defeated forces of the former regime. By 1999, the RPF had weakened the insurgents and Tutsi and Hutu began living together peacefully in the northwest. Kayumba Nyamwasa, at the time still part of the Rwandan army, said that "the mood had changed", attributing a shift in Hutu attitude to a shift in the "balance of forces in the country", with the genocidaires having "no chance of returning to power". As of 2021, with a lack of free speech in Rwanda, and elections which are generally regarded as lacking freedom and fairness, Kagame's popularity amongst the Rwandwan population is unknown. Journalists Jason Burke of "The Guardian" and "Al Jazeera"'s Rashid Abdallah describe the president as "authentically popular in Rwanda" and as enjoying "overwhelming public support" respectively. British journalist and author Michela Wrong and Filip Reyntjens disagree, with Wrong saying that "the level of invective Kagame dedicates to the Rwanda National Congress, the amount of energy he has expended trying to get Uganda and South Africa to expel or extradite or close down these players, suggests he sees them as a real threat".


title: Paul Kagame

text: Kagame's image amongst foreign leaders was very positive until the late 2000s. He was credited with ending the genocide, bringing peace and security to Rwanda, and achieving development. Since 2010, the international community has increasingly criticized Kagame following a leaked United Nations report alleging Rwanda's support for the rebel M23 movement in Congo. In 2012, the United Kingdom, Germany, the Netherlands and several other countries suspended programmes of budget support to Rwanda, with many redirecting their aid to project-based assistance.


title: Paul Kagame

text: Describing Kagame's personality, Roméo Dallaire has written that he has a "studious air that didn't quite disguise his hawk-like intensity". American journalist Stephen Kinzer, who wrote the biography "A Thousand Hills: Rwanda's Rebirth and the Man Who Dreamed It" in collaboration with Kagame himself, describes him as "one of the most intriguing leaders in Africa". Despite praising Kagame's leadership skills, Kinzer also cites a personality of "chronic impatience, barely suppressed anger, and impulsive scorn for critics". In an interview with the "Daily Telegraph"'s Richard Grant, Kagame said that he sleeps for only four hours per night, devoting the remainder of his day to work, exercise, family, and reading academic texts and foreign newspapers. When asked about his reputation for physically beating his subordinates by journalist Jeffrey Gettleman, Kagame said, "I can be very tough, I can make mistakes like that".


title: Paul Kagame

text: Kagame has received many honours and accolades during his presidency. These include honorary degrees and medals from several Western universities, as well as the highest awards bestowed by the countries of Liberia and Benin. The Council for East and Central Africa Football Associations football tournament has been named the Kagame Interclub Cup since 2002, due to Kagame's sponsorship of the event.


title: Holy Grail

text: The Holy Grail (, , , ) is a treasure that serves as an important motif in Arthurian literature. Various traditions describe the Holy Grail as a cup, dish, or stone with miraculous healing powers, sometimes providing eternal youth or sustenance in infinite abundance, often guarded in the custody of the Fisher King and located in the hidden Grail castle. By analogy, any elusive object or goal of great significance may be perceived as a "holy grail" by those seeking such.


title: Holy Grail

text: A "grail" (Old French: "graal" or "greal"), wondrous but not unequivocally holy, first appears in "Perceval, the Story of the Grail", an unfinished chivalric romance written by Chrétien de Troyes around 1190. Chrétien's story inspired many continuations, translators and interpreters in the later-12th and early-13th centuries, including Wolfram von Eschenbach, who perceived the Grail as a stone. The Christian, Celtic or possibly other origins of the Arthurian grail trope are uncertain and have been debated amongst literary scholars and historians.


title: Holy Grail

text: In the late-12th century, Robert de Boron in "Joseph d'Arimathie" portrayed the Grail as Jesus's vessel from the Last Supper, which Joseph of Arimathea used to catch Christ's blood at the crucifixion. Thereafter, the Holy Grail became interwoven with the legend of the Holy Chalice, the Last Supper cup, an idea continued in works such as the "Lancelot-Grail" cycle and consequently the 15th-century "Le Morte d'Arthur". In this form, it is now a popular theme in modern culture and has become the subject of pseudohistorical writings and of conspiracy theories.


title: Holy Grail

text: The word , as it is earliest spelled, comes from Old French or , cognate with Old Occitan and Old Catalan , meaning "a cup or bowl of earth, wood, or metal" (or other various types of vessels in different Occitan dialects). The most commonly accepted etymology derives it from Latin or via an earlier form, , a derivative of or , which was, in turn, borrowed from Ancient Greek (, a large wine-mixing vessel). Alternative suggestions include a derivative of , a name for a type of woven basket that came to refer to a dish, or a derivative of Latin meaning "'by degree', 'by stages', applied to a dish brought to the table in different stages or services during a meal".


title: Holy Grail

text: In the 15th century, English writer John Hardyng invented a fanciful new etymology for Old French (or ), meaning "Holy Grail", by parsing it as , meaning "royal blood". This etymology was used by some later medieval British writers such as Thomas Malory, and became prominent in the conspiracy theory developed in the book "The Holy Blood and the Holy Grail", in which refers to the Jesus bloodline.


title: Holy Grail

text: The literature surrounding the Grail can be divided into two groups. The first concerns King Arthur's knights visiting the Grail castle or questing after the object. The second concerns the Grail's history in the time of Joseph of Arimathea.


title: Holy Grail

text: The Grail was considered a bowl or dish when first described by Chrétien de Troyes. There, it is a processional salver, a tray, used to serve at a feast. Hélinand of Froidmont described a grail as a "wide and deep saucer" ("scutella lata et aliquantulum profunda"); other authors had their own ideas. Robert de Boron portrayed it as the vessel of the Last Supper. "Peredur son of Efrawg" had no Grail as such, presenting the hero instead with a platter containing his kinsman's bloody, severed head.


title: Holy Grail

text: The Grail is first featured in "Perceval, le Conte du Graal" ("The Story of the Grail") by Chrétien de Troyes, who claims he was working from a source book given to him by his patron, Count Philip of Flanders. In this incomplete poem, dated sometime between 1180 and 1191, the object has not yet acquired the implications of holiness it would have in later works. While dining in the magical abode of the Fisher King, Perceval witnesses a wondrous procession in which youths carry magnificent objects from one chamber to another, passing before him at each course of the meal. First comes a young man carrying a bleeding lance, then two boys carrying candelabras. Finally, a beautiful young girl emerges bearing an elaborately decorated "graal", or "grail".


title: Holy Grail

text: Chrétien refers to this object not as "The Grail" but as "a grail" ("un graal"), showing the word was used, in its earliest literary context, as a common noun. For Chrétien, a grail was a wide, somewhat deep, dish or bowl, interesting because it contained not a pike, salmon, or lamprey, as the audience may have expected for such a container, but a single Communion wafer which provided sustenance for the Fisher King's crippled father. Perceval, who had been warned against talking too much, remains silent through all of this and wakes up the next morning alone. He later learns that if he had asked the appropriate questions about what he saw, he would have healed his maimed host, much to his honour. The story of the Wounded King's mystical fasting is not unique; several saints were said to have lived without food besides communion, for instance Saint Catherine of Genoa. This may imply that Chrétien intended the Communion wafer to be the significant part of the ritual, and the Grail to be a mere prop.


title: Holy Grail

text: Though Chrétien's account is the earliest and most influential of all Grail texts, it was in the work of Robert de Boron that the Grail truly became the "Holy Grail" and assumed the form most familiar to modern readers in its Christian context. In his verse romance "Joseph d'Arimathie", composed between 1191 and 1202, Robert tells the story of Joseph of Arimathea acquiring the chalice of the Last Supper to collect Christ's blood upon his removal from the cross. Joseph is thrown in prison, where Christ visits him and explains the mysteries of the blessed cup. Upon his release, Joseph gathers his in-laws and other followers and travels to the west. He founds a dynasty of Grail keepers that eventually includes Perceval.


title: Holy Grail

text: In "Parzival", Wolfram von Eschenbach, citing the authority of a certain (probably fictional) Kyot the Provençal, claimed the Grail was a Stone, the sanctuary of the neutral angels who took neither side during Lucifer's rebellion. It is called "Lapis exillis", which in alchemy is the name of the Philosopher's stone.


title: Holy Grail

text: The authors of the Vulgate Cycle used the Grail as a symbol of divine grace; the virgin Galahad, illegitimate son of Lancelot and Elaine, the world's greatest knight and the Grail Bearer at the castle of Corbenic, is destined to achieve the Grail, his spiritual purity making him a greater warrior than even his illustrious father. The "Queste del Saint Graal" ("The Quest of The Holy Grail") tells also of the adventures of various Knights of the Round Table in their eponymous quest. Some of them, including Percival and Bors the Younger, eventually join Galahad as his companions near the successful end of the Grail Quest and are witnesses of his ascension to Heaven.


title: Holy Grail

text: Galahad and the interpretation of the Grail involving him were picked up in the 15th century by Thomas Malory in "Le Morte d'Arthur" and remain popular today. While it is not explicit that the Holy Grail is never to be seen again on Earth, it is stated by Malory that there has since then been no knight capable of obtaining it.


title: Holy Grail

text: Scholars have long speculated on the origins of the Holy Grail before Chrétien, suggesting that it may contain elements of the trope of magical cauldrons from Celtic mythology and later Welsh mythology combined with Christian legend surrounding the Eucharist, the latter found in Eastern Christian sources, conceivably in that of the Byzantine Mass, or even Persian sources. The view that the "origin" of the Grail legend should be seen as deriving from Celtic mythology was championed by Roger Sherman Loomis, Alfred Nutt and Jessie Weston. Loomis traced a number of parallels between medieval Welsh literature and Irish material and the Grail romances, including similarities between the "Mabinogion"s Bran the Blessed and the Arthurian Fisher King, and between Bran's life-restoring cauldron and the Grail.


title: Holy Grail

text: The opposing view dismissed the "Celtic" connections as spurious and interpreted the legend as essentially Christian in origin. Joseph Goering has identified sources for Grail imagery in 12th-century wall paintings from churches in the Catalan Pyrenees (now mostly removed to the Museu Nacional d'Art de Catalunya), which present unique iconic images of the Virgin Mary holding a bowl that radiates tongues of fire, images that predate the first literary account by Chrétien de Troyes. Goering argues that they were the original inspiration for the Grail legend.


title: Holy Grail

text: Psychologists Emma Jung and Marie-Louise von Franz used analytical psychology to interpret the Grail as a series of symbols in their book "The Grail Legend". This expanded on interpretations by Carl Jung, which were later invoked by Joseph Campbell.


title: Holy Grail

text: Richard Barber (2004) argued that the Grail legend is connected to the introduction of "more ceremony and mysticism" surrounding the sacrament of the Eucharist in the high medieval period, proposing that the first Grail stories may have been connected to the "renewal in this traditional sacrament". Daniel Scavone (1999, 2003) has argued that the "Grail" in origin referred to the Image of Edessa. Goulven Peron (2016) suggested that the Holy Grail may reflect the horn of the river-god Achelous as described by Ovid in the "Metamorphoses".


title: Holy Grail

text: In the wake of the Arthurian romances, several artifacts came to be identified as the Holy Grail in medieval relic veneration. These artifacts are said to have been the vessel used at the Last Supper, but other details vary. Despite the prominence of the Grail literature, traditions about a Last Supper relic remained rare in contrast to other items associated with Jesus' last days, such as the True Cross and Holy Lance.


title: Holy Grail

text: One tradition predates the Grail romances: in the 7th century, the pilgrim Arculf reported that the Last Supper chalice was displayed near Jerusalem. In the wake of Robert de Boron's Grail works, several other items came to be claimed as the true Last Supper vessel. In the late 12th century, one was said to be in Byzantium; Albrecht von Scharfenberg's Grail romance "Der Jüngere Titurel" associated it explicitly with the Arthurian Grail, but claimed it was only a copy. This item was said to have been looted in the Fourth Crusade and brought to Troyes in France, but it was lost during the French Revolution.


title: Holy Grail

text: Two relics associated with the Grail survive today. The "Sacro Catino" (Sacred Basin, also known as the Genoa Chalice) is a green glass dish held at the Genoa Cathedral said to have been used at the Last Supper. Its provenance is unknown, and there are two divergent accounts of how it was brought to Genoa by Crusaders in the 12th century. It was not associated with the Last Supper until later, in the wake of the Grail romances; the first known association is in Jacobus de Voragine's chronicle of Genoa in the late 13th century, which draws on the Grail literary tradition. The Catino was moved and broken during Napoleon's conquest in the early 19th century, revealing that it is glass rather than emerald.


title: Holy Grail

text: The Holy Chalice of Valencia is an agate dish with a mounting for use as a chalice. The bowl may date to Greco-Roman times, but its dating is unclear, and its provenance is unknown before 1399, when it was gifted to Martin I of Aragon. By the 14th century an elaborate tradition had developed that this object was the Last Supper chalice. This tradition mirrors aspects of the Grail material, with several major differences, suggesting a separate tradition entirely. It is not associated with Joseph of Arimathea or Jesus' blood; it is said to have been taken to Rome by Saint Peter and later entrusted to Saint Lawrence. Early references do not call the object the "Grail"; the first evidence connecting it to the Grail tradition is from the 15th century. The monarchy sold the cup in the 15th century to Valencia Cathedral, where it remains a significant local icon.


title: Holy Grail

text: Several objects were identified with the Holy Grail in the 17th century. In the 20th century, a series of new items became associated with it. These include the Nanteos Cup, a medieval wooden bowl found near Rhydyfelin, Wales; a glass dish found near Glastonbury, England; the Antioch chalice, a 6th-century silver-gilt object that became attached to the Grail legend in the 1930s, and the Chalice of Doña Urraca, a cup made between 200 BC and 100 AD, kept in León’s basilica of Saint Isidore.


title: Holy Grail

text: In the modern era, a number of places have become associated with the Holy Grail. One of the most prominent is Glastonbury in Somerset, England. Glastonbury was associated with King Arthur and his resting place of Avalon by the 12th century. In the 13th century, a legend arose that Joseph of Arimathea was the founder of Glastonbury Abbey. Early accounts of Joseph at Glastonbury focus on his role as the evangelist of Britain rather than as the custodian of the Holy Grail, but from the 15th century, the Grail became a more prominent part of the legends surrounding Glastonbury. Interest in Glastonbury resurged in the late 19th century, inspired by renewed interest in the Arthurian legend and contemporary spiritual movements centered on ancient sacred sites. In the late 19th century, John Goodchild hid a glass bowl near Glastonbury; a group of his friends, including Wellesley Tudor Pole, retrieved the cup in 1906 and promoted it as the original Holy Grail. Glastonbury and its Holy Grail legend have since become a point of focus for various New Age and Neopagan groups.


title: Holy Grail

text: In the early 20th century, esoteric writers identified Montségur, a stronghold of the heretical Cathar sect in the 13th century, as the Grail castle. Similarly, the 14th-century Rosslyn Chapel in Midlothian, Scotland, became attached to the Grail legend in the mid-20th century when a succession of conspiracy books identified it as a secret hiding place of the Grail.


title: Holy Grail

text: Since the 19th century, the Holy Grail has been linked to various conspiracy theories. In 1818, Austrian pseudohistorical writer Joseph von Hammer-Purgstall connected the Grail to contemporary myths surrounding the Knights Templar that cast the order as a secret society dedicated to mystical knowledge and relics. In Hammer-Purgstall's work, the Grail is not a physical relic but a symbol of the secret knowledge that the Templars sought. There is no historical evidence linking the Templars to a search for the Grail, but subsequent writers have elaborated on the Templar theories.


title: Holy Grail

text: Starting in the early 20th century, writers, particularly in France, further connected the Templars and Grail to the Cathars. In 1906, French esoteric writer Joséphin Péladan identified the Cathar castle of Montségur with Munsalväsche or Montsalvat, the Grail castle in Wolfram's "Parzival". This identification has inspired a wider legend asserting that the Cathars possessed the Holy Grail. According to these stories, the Cathars guarded the Grail at Montségur, and smuggled it out when the castle fell in 1244.


title: Holy Grail

text: Beginning in 1933, German writer Otto Rahn published a series of books tying the Grail, Templars, and Cathars to modern German nationalist mythology. According to Rahn, the Grail was a symbol of a pure Germanic religion repressed by Christianity. Rahn's books inspired interest in the Grail within the Nazi occultist circles and led to the SS chief Heinrich Himmler's abortive sponsorship of Rahn's search for the Grail, as well as many subsequent conspiracy theories and fictional works about the Nazis searching for the Grail.


title: Holy Grail

text: In the late 20th century, writers Michael Baigent, Richard Leigh and Henry Lincoln created one of the most widely known conspiracy theories about the Holy Grail. The theory first appeared in the BBC documentary series "Chronicle" in the 1970s, and was elaborated upon in the bestselling 1982 book "Holy Blood, Holy Grail". The theory combines myths about the Templars and Cathars with various other legends and a prominent hoax about a secret order called the Priory of Sion. According to this theory, the Holy Grail is not a physical object, but a symbol of the bloodline of Jesus. The blood connection is based on the etymological reading of "san greal" (holy grail) as "sang real" (royal blood), which dates to the 15th century. The narrative developed here is that Jesus was not divine, and had children with Mary Magdalene, who took the family to France where their descendants became the Merovingians dynasty. While the Catholic Church worked to destroy the dynasty, they were protected by the Priory of Sion and their associates, including the Templars, Cathars, and other secret societies. The book, its arguments, and its evidence have been widely dismissed by scholars as pseudohistorical, but it has had a vast influence on conspiracy and alternate history books. It has also inspired fiction, most notably Dan Brown's 2003 novel "The Da Vinci Code" and its 2006 film adaptation.


title: Holy Grail

text: The combination of hushed reverence, chromatic harmonies and sexualized imagery in Richard Wagner's final music drama "Parsifal", premiered in 1882, developed this theme, associating the Grail – now periodically producing blood – directly with female fertility. The high seriousness of the subject was also epitomized in Dante Gabriel Rossetti's painting in which a woman modeled by Alexa Wilding holds the Grail with one hand, while adopting a gesture of blessing with the other.


title: Holy Grail

text: A major mural series depicting the Quest for the Holy Grail was done by the artist Edwin Austin Abbey during the first decade of the 20th century for the Boston Public Library. Other artists, including George Frederic Watts and William Dyce, also portrayed grail subjects.


title: Holy Grail

text: The story of the Grail and of the quest to find it became increasingly popular in the 19th century, referred to in literature such as Alfred, Lord Tennyson's Arthurian cycle "Idylls of the King". A sexualised interpretation of the grail, now identified with female genitalia, appeared in 1870 in Hargrave Jennings' book "The Rosicrucians, Their Rites and Mysteries".


title: Holy Grail

text: In the cinema, the Holy Grail debuted in the 1904 silent film "Parsifal", an adaptation of Wagner's opera by Edwin S. Porter. More recent cinematic adaptations include Costain's "The Silver Chalice" made into a 1954 film by Victor Saville and Brown's "The Da Vinci Code" turned into a 2006 film by Ron Howard.


title: Research and Analysis Wing

text: The Research and Analysis Wing (abbreviated R&AW; ) is the foreign intelligence agency of India. The agency's primary function is gathering foreign intelligence, counter-terrorism, counter-proliferation, advising Indian policymakers, and advancing India's foreign strategic interests. It is also involved in the security of India's nuclear programme.


title: Research and Analysis Wing

text: During the nine-year tenure of its first Secretary, Rameshwar Nath Kao, R&AW quickly came to prominence in the global intelligence community, playing a role in major events such as accession of the state of Sikkim to India. Headquartered in New Delhi, R&AW's current chief is Samant Goel. The head of R&AW is designated as the Secretary (Research) in the Cabinet Secretariat, and is under the authority of the Prime Minister of India without parliamentary oversight. On an administrative basis, the Director reports to the Cabinet Secretary, who reports to the Prime Minister.


title: Research and Analysis Wing

text: Prior to the inception of the Research and Analysis Wing, overseas intelligence collection was primarily the responsibility of the Intelligence Bureau (IB), which was created by the British Raj. In 1933, sensing the political turmoil in the world which eventually led to the Second World War, the Intelligence Bureau's responsibilities were increased to include the collection of intelligence along India's borders.


title: Research and Analysis Wing

text: In 1947, after independence, Sanjeevi Pillai took over as the first Indian Director of the IB. Having been depleted of trained manpower by the exit of the British after Indian independence, Pillai tried to run the bureau on MI5 lines. In 1949, Pillai organised a small foreign intelligence operation, but the Indian debacle in the Sino-Indian War of 1962 showed it to be ineffective. Foreign intelligence failure during the 1962 Sino-Indian War led then-Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru to order a dedicated foreign intelligence agency to be established. After the Indo-Pakistani war of 1965, the Chief of Army Staff, General Joyanto Nath Chaudhuri, also called for more intelligence-gathering. Around the end of 1966 the concept of a separate foreign intelligence agency began to take concrete shape.


title: Research and Analysis Wing

text: The Indira Gandhi administration decided that a full-fledged second security service was needed. R. N. Kao, then a deputy director of the Intelligence Bureau, submitted a blueprint for the new agency. Kao was appointed as the chief of India's first foreign intelligence agency, the Research and Analysis Wing. The R&AW was given the responsibility for strategic external intelligence, human as well as technical, plus concurrent responsibility with the Directorate-General of Military Intelligence for tactical trans-border military intelligence up to a certain depth across the Line of control (LOC) and the international border.


title: Research and Analysis Wing

text: From its inception R&AW has been criticised for being an agency not answerable to the people of India (R&AW reports to Prime Minister only). Fears arose that it could turn into the KGB of India. Such fears were kept at bay by the R&AW's able leadership (although detractors of R&AW and especially the Janata Party have accused the agency of letting itself be used for terrorising and intimidating opposition during the 1975–1977 Emergency). The main controversy which has plagued R&AW in recent years is over bureaucratisation of the system with allegations about favouritism in promotions, corruption, ego clashes, no financial accountability, inter-departmental rivalry, etc. R&AW also suffers from ethnic imbalances in the officer level. Noted security analyst and former Additional Secretary B. Raman has criticised the agency for its asymmetric growth; "while being strong in its capability for covert action it is weak in its capability for intelligence collection, analysis and assessment. Strong in low and medium-grade intelligence, weak in high-grade intelligence. Strong in technical intelligence, weak in human intelligence. Strong in collation, weak in analysis. Strong in investigation, weak in prevention. Strong in crisis management, weak in crisis prevention."


title: Research and Analysis Wing

text: R&AW started as a wing of the main Intelligence Bureau with 250 employees and an annual budget of . In the early seventies, its annual budget had risen to while its personnel numbered several thousand. In 2007, the budget of R&AW is speculated to be as high as 150 million to as low as 100 million.


title: Research and Analysis Wing

text: Slowly other child agencies such as the Radio Research Center and the Electronics & Tech. Services were added to R&AW in the 1970s and 1990s. In 1971, Kao had persuaded the Government to set up the Aviation Research Centre (ARC). The ARC's job was aerial reconnaissance. It replaced the Indian Air Force's old reconnaissance aircraft, and by the mid-1970s, R&AW, through the ARC, had high quality aerial pictures of the installations along the Chinese and Pakistani borders. In the 1970s, the Special Frontier Force moved to R&AW's control, working to train Bengali rebels. In 1977, R&AW's operations and staff were dramatically cut under the premiership of Morarji Desai, which hurt the organization's capabilities with the shutting of entire sections of R&AW, like its Information Division. These cuts were reduced following Gandhi's return. In 2004 Government of India added yet another signal intelligence agency called the National Technical Facilities Organisation (NTFO), which was later renamed as National Technical Research Organisation (NTRO). While the exact nature of the operations conducted by NTRO is classified, it is believed that it deals with research on imagery and communications using various platforms.


title: Research and Analysis Wing

text: In the past, following the Sino-Indian war of 1962 and due to India's volatile relations with Pakistan, R&AW's objectives had also consisted the following:


title: Research and Analysis Wing

text: R&AW has been organised on the lines of the CIA. The head of R&AW is designated Secretary (R) in the Cabinet Secretariat. Most of the previous chiefs have been experts on either Pakistan or China. They also have the benefit of training in either the USA or the UK, and more recently in Israel. The Secretary (R), is under the direct command of the Prime Minister, and reports on an administrative basis to the Cabinet Secretary, who reports to the Prime Minister. Moreover, the National Security Adviser is also regularly briefed by the Secretary (R). Reporting to the Secretary (R) are:


title: Research and Analysis Wing

text: The internal structure of the R&AW is a matter of speculation, but brief overviews of the same are present in the public domain. Attached to the Headquarters of R&AW at Lodhi Road, New Delhi are different regional headquarters, which have direct links to overseas stations and are headed by a controlling officer who keeps records of different projects assigned to field officers who are posted abroad. Intelligence is usually collected from a variety of sources by field officers and deputy field officers; it is either preprocessed by a senior field officer or by a desk officer. The desk officer then passes the information to the Joint Secretary and then on to the Additional Secretary and from there it is disseminated to the concerned end user. R&AW personnel are called "Research Officers" instead of the traditional "agents". There is a sizeable number of female officers in R&AW even at the operational level. In recent years, R&AW has shifted its primary focus from Pakistan to China and have started operating a separate desk for this purpose.


title: Research and Analysis Wing

text: The Joint Intelligence Committee (JIC), under the Cabinet Secretariat, is responsible for coordinating and analysing intelligence activities between R&AW, the Intelligence Bureau and the Defence Intelligence Agency (DIA). In practice, however, the effectiveness of the JIC has been varied. With the establishment of the National Security Council in 1999, the role of the JIC has been merged with the NSC. R&AW's legal status is unusual, in that it is not an "Agency", but a "Wing" of the Cabinet Secretariat. Hence, R&AW is not answerable to the Parliament of India on any issue, which keeps it out of reach of the "Right to Information Act".< This exemption was granted through Section 24 read with Schedule II of the act. However, information regarding the allegations of corruption and human rights violations has to be disclosed.


title: Research and Analysis Wing

text: R&AW has 10 field formations all over India, known as Special Bureaus. These Bureaus have a area of responsibility targeted towards the countries that share land border with India. They are largely located in major cities near or along the borders:


title: Research and Analysis Wing

text: Initially, R&AW relied primarily on trained intelligence officers who were recruited directly. These belonged to the external wing of the Intelligence Bureau. Candidates are mostly recruited from the IPS and few other civil services along with candidates from armed forces of India, the latter being in lesser number though. Later, it began directly recruiting graduates from universities. However owing to allegations of nepotism in appointments, in 1983 R&AW created its own service cadre, the Research and Analysis Service (RAS) to absorb talent from other Group A Civil Services, under the Central Staffing Scheme. Direct recruitment at Class I executive level is from Civil services officers undergoing Foundation course at Lal Bahadur Shastri National Academy of Administration. At the end of the course, it conducts a campus interview. Based on a selection of psychological tests and the interview, candidates are inducted for a lien period of one year. During this period, they have an option of rejoining their parent service (if they wish to) after which they can be permanently absorbed into the Research and Analysis Service. Delhi-based security think tank Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses noted in one of its reports that R&AW suffered from the 'tail-end syndrome' where the 'bottom of the entrance lists' of those qualifying the UPSC examinations were offered jobs. Additionally, recruitment is also by lateral deputation from the Officer corps of Armed Forces or Group A Civil Service Officers. The Civil and Defence Service Officers permanently resign their cadre and join the RAS. However, according to recent reports, officers can return to their parent cadre after serving a specific period in the agency if they wish to. Most of the secretaries have been officers from the IPS and other posts are held by IRS and IFS officers. R&AW also employs a number of linguists and other experts in various fields. The service conditions of R&AW officers are governed by the Research and Analysis Wing (Recruitment, Cadre and Service) Rules, 1975.


title: Research and Analysis Wing

text: Basic training commences with 'pep talks' to boost the morale of the new recruit. This is a ten-day phase in which the inductee is familiarised with the real world of intelligence and espionage, as opposed to the spies of fiction. Common usages, tradecraft techniques and classification of information are taught. Financial and economic analysis, space technology, information security, energy security and scientific knowledge is imbibed to the trainees. The recruit is made to specialise in a foreign language and introduced to Geostrategic analysis. Case studies of other agencies like CIA, KGB, ISI, Mossad and MI6 are presented for study. The inductee is also taught that intelligence organisations do not identify who is friend and who is foe, the country's foreign policy does. Basic classroom training in tactics and language are imparted to R&AW officers at the residential Training and Language Institute in Gurgaon. A multi-disciplinary school of economic intelligence is also being set up in Mumbai to train intelligence officers in investigating economic crimes like money laundering for terror purposes etc.


title: Research and Analysis Wing

text: After completing 'Basic Training' the recruit is now attached to a Field Intelligence Bureau (FIB). Their training here lasts for 1–2 years. They are given firsthand experience of what it was to be out in the figurative cold, conducting clandestine operations. During night exercises under realistic conditions, they are taught infiltration and exfiltration. They are also instructed to avoid capture and if caught, how to face interrogation. They will learn the art of reconnoitre, making contacts, and, the numerous skills of operating an intelligence mission. At the end of the field training, the new recruit is brought back to the school for final polishing. Before their deployment in the field, they will be given exhaustive training in the art of self-defence mainly Krav Maga, and the use of technical espionage devices. They are also drilled in various administrative disciplines so that they could take their place in the foreign missions without arousing suspicion. They are now ready to operate under the cover of an Embassy to gather information, set up their own network of informers, moles or operatives as the task may require. Field and arms training is provided in the Indian Military Academy Headquarters at Dehradun. The training model has been criticised as being 'archaic and too police-centric' and not incorporating 'modern technological advances in methods of communication' etc.


title: Research and Analysis Wing

text: RAW has a severe shortage of employees. The number of personnel in 2013 was estimated to be 5,000 personnel. This represents a staff deficit of 40% below sanctioned strength. In 2013, the Hindu reported the organization was short on management level staff by 130 and in specialized areas like technology there was also a huge shortage. In number of cryptanalysts, it was short by approximately 33%. V. Balachandran.”


title: Research and Analysis Wing

text: The primary mission of R&AW includes intelligence collection via HUMINT, psychological warfare, subversion, sabotage. R&AW maintains active liaison with other agencies and services in various countries. Those agencies include SVR of Russia, Afghanistan's NDS, Israel's Mossad, Germany's BND, the CIA and MI6 have been well-known, a common interest being Pakistan's nuclear programme.


title: Research and Analysis Wing

text: R&AW has been active in obtaining information and operating through third countries. R&AW offices abroad have limited strength and are largely geared to the collection of military, economic, scientific, and political intelligence. R&AW monitors the activities of certain organisations abroad only insofar as they relate to their involvement with narco terrorist elements and smuggling arms, ammunition, explosives, etc. into India. It does not monitor the activities of criminal elements abroad, which are mainly confined to normal smuggling without any links to terrorist elements.


title: Research and Analysis Wing

text: R&AW officers are posted to Indian diplomatic missions under official cover as diplomats, frequently in the consular wing. The relationship between R&AW and the Ministry of External Affairs has been unstable because they "inhabit different worlds" according to the Times of India.


title: Research and Analysis Wing

text: A task force report prepared by a New Delhi-based security think tank highlighted that R&AW operatives have inadequate non-official cover for overseas operations which 'limits access to spot real targets' and causes issues on handling 'high-value assets'.


title: Research and Analysis Wing

text: 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.


title: Research and Analysis Wing

text: R&AW was one of the primary agency that provided the information about Ravi Pujari, being located in Senegal. This information was then provided to Senegalese authorities, that arrested and deported him to India. He was formally arrested at Kempegowda International Airport by Karnataka Police.


title: Research and Analysis Wing

text: During the Soviet War in Afghanistan, R&AW had recruited three powerful warlords, including Ahmad Shah Massoud.


title: Research and Analysis Wing

text: 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.


title: Research and Analysis Wing

text: 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.


title: Research and Analysis Wing

text: After the Overthrow of Taliban in Afghanistan in 2001, R&AW was the first intelligence agency to determine the extent of the Kunduz airlift.


title: Research and Analysis Wing

text: In 2017, R&AW undertook counter-terrorism operation, described as “unprecedented in its scale and scope”, foiled 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.


title: Research and Analysis Wing

text: 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.


title: Research and Analysis Wing

text: In 2020, 10 MSS Operatives from Xinjiang State Security Department (XSSD) were arrested in Kabul by NDS. During Questioning, one of operative 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-off by R&AW.


title: Research and Analysis Wing

text: In the early 1970s, the army of Pakistan launched military crackdown in response to the Bangladesh independence movement. Nearly 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. It is also alleged that R&AW planned and executed the 1971 Indian Airlines hijacking as a false flag operation to ban overflight by Pakistani aircraft and disrupt Pakistani troop movement in East Pakistan. 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. However, 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.


title: Research and Analysis Wing

text: In 1990, R&AW had 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.


title: Research and Analysis Wing

text: In 1991, after Khaleda Zia had won 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 setup several terror training camps located along the border. So in order to stop all this activity, R&AW spontaneously bombed several of its camps and a major ISI safe house, thus dismantling JeI's terror network.


title: Research and Analysis Wing

text: In 1977–97, India took active part in Chittagong Hill Tracts conflict. R&AW trained and financed the rebels of Shanti Bahini.


title: Research and Analysis Wing

text: 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 mountain. However, the actual data is not found


title: Research and Analysis Wing

text: 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.


title: Research and Analysis Wing

text: an operation involving informants in Australia, New Zealand and UK to successfully oust him from power.


title: Research and Analysis Wing

text: 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.


title: Research and Analysis Wing

text: Since 2014, R&AW has undertaken numerous identification, physical surveillance and tracking operations, in Malaysia, targeted towards Khalistani organizations.


title: Research and Analysis Wing

text: 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.


title: Research and Analysis Wing

text: 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.


title: Research and Analysis Wing

text: In 2018–19, R&AW undertook many operations that crippled ISI and MSS intelligence network in Maldives.


title: Research and Analysis Wing

text: In February 1983, Mauritian Prime Minister Anerood Jugnauth requested assistance from Mrs 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 Mrs. 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 Mr. Berenger to mount a political challenge.


title: Research and Analysis Wing

text: 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.


title: Research and Analysis Wing

text: 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 for northern eastern 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 intercepts insurgents messages. On 5 April 1995, the Indian troops captured an insurgent named Hathi Bsrvah, trained by Pakistani ISI near Karachi. By 21 May 1995, the operation was finally called off.


title: Research and Analysis Wing

text: 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.


title: Research and Analysis Wing

text: In 1998, Mirza Dilshad Beg, a Nepalese parliamentarian and an ISI informant was assassinated by R&AW.


title: Research and Analysis Wing

text: 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.


title: Research and Analysis Wing

text: In 2014, R&W 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.


title: Research and Analysis Wing

text: 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.


title: Research and Analysis Wing

text: During the late 1960s, 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 3rd, thus starting the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971.


title: Research and Analysis Wing

text: Kahuta is the site of the Khan Research Laboratories (KRL), 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.


title: Research and Analysis Wing

text: 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 Indian Army which soon launched Operation Meghdoot to take control of Siachen Glacier with around 300 acclimatised troops were airlifted to Siachen before Pakistan could launch any operation resulting in Indian head start and eventual Indian domination of all major peaks in Siachen.


title: Research and Analysis Wing

text: In the mid-1980s, R&AW set up two special units, "Counterintelligence Team-X(CIT-X)" and "Counterintelligence Team-J(CIT-J)", the first directed at Pakistan 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".


title: Research and Analysis Wing

text: 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.


title: Research and Analysis Wing

text: During the Kargil War, R&AW was also successful in intercepting a telephonic conversation between Pervez Musharraf, the then Pakistan Army Chief who was in Beijing and his chief of staff Lt. Gen. Mohammed Aziz in Islamabad. This tape was later published by India to prove Pakistani involvement in the Kargil incursion.


title: Research and Analysis Wing

text: 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.


title: Research and Analysis Wing

text: 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.


title: Research and Analysis Wing

text: During the 2016 Line of Control strike, R&AW played an important role by providing real time and accurate intelligence to operational advisors and planners. It had deployed its human assets closest to the 8 demarcated launch-pads in Pakistan occupied Kashmir. It also started Physical Surveillance of Chief of Pakistan army, 10 Corps commander and force commander of Northern Areas.


title: Research and Analysis Wing

text: 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.


title: Research and Analysis Wing

text: 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.


title: Research and Analysis Wing

text: Since 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.


title: Research and Analysis Wing

text: Since 2012, R&AW has carried out numerous operations in Saudi Arabia. It is only because of such operations that dozens of high-ranking terrorists like Abu Jundal, Habibur Rahman, Sabeel Ahmed, Muhammed Gulnawaz etc. have been deported and arrested in India.


title: Research and Analysis Wing

text: In the late 1980s, R&AW allegedly started funding and training LTTE 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. However, when LTTE created a lot of problems and complications for India, R&AW 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.


title: Research and Analysis Wing

text: 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.


title: Research and Analysis Wing

text: 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.


title: Research and Analysis Wing

text: 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.


title: Research and Analysis Wing

text: In 2019, R&AW was also able to infiltrate Chinese PLA communication to their attache to Sri Lanka. It was because of this that Post of Chinese defence attache was vacant for nearly 8-9 months, as attache was called back after Chinese had learned of this infiltration.


title: Research and Analysis Wing

text: 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 Aviation Research Centre and DAI, to provide aerial reconnaissance to Northern Alliance.


title: Research and Analysis Wing

text: During the 2015 G20 Antalya summit, the R&AW station in Ankara increased its strength in order to provide additional security cover for visiting PM Modi, along with SPG. Officers from MI5 and Mossad were also deployed to provide Security as part of liaison agreement.


title: Research and Analysis Wing

text: In 2021, R&AW is reported to have foiled a assassination plot hatched by Khalistan Commando Force militants from Belgium and United Kingdom, to target farmers' leader protesting at Delhi.


title: Research and Analysis Wing

text: 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.


title: Research and Analysis Wing

text: The latest surveillance operation was undertaken in 2019, with target being Gurmeet Singh Bagga, co-leader of the Khalistan Zindabad Force and a fugitive wanted for the Punjab drone Arms drop Case.


title: Research and Analysis Wing

text: R&AW had also managed to extract certain technical knowledge necessary for UAV flight controls, in order to advance India's Indigenous Military UAV program.


title: Research and Analysis Wing

text: After 26/11, it was uncovered that Pakistan's ISI had not only laundered large amount of money for the attack but also arranged VOIP calls that allowed the handlers to talk to the militants through the Italian city of Brescia.


title: Research and Analysis Wing

text: Since then, it has undertaken hundreds of operations, directed towards Sleeper cells/operatives of Pakistan-based Islamic and Khalistani militant organizations. It has also aggressively recruited agents inside Pro-Khalistan circles all across Italy


title: Research and Analysis Wing

text: During 1980s, R&AW launched an extensive operation in London to neutralise UK-based Pakistani national Abdul Khan, who had played an instrumental role in sheltering extremists and planning attacks in India.


title: Research and Analysis Wing

text: Since the suppression and defeat of Khalistani insurgency in 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.


title: Research and Analysis Wing

text: 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.


title: Research and Analysis Wing

text: 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.


title: Research and Analysis Wing

text: In July 2020, Canada had put two Sikh men under No-fly list after Canadian Security Intelligence Service had gotten information, that both were going travel to Pakistan and carry out a ISI-backed terrorist attack inside India. One of the separatists was identified as the son of Lakhbir Singh Rode, a well known Khalistani terrorist.


title: Research and Analysis Wing

text: Most of the Secretaries of Research and Analysis Wing have been Indian Police Service (IPS) officers. R. N. Kao and K. Sankaran Nair belonged to the Imperial Police (IP), of the British colonial days which was renamed as the Indian Police Service after Indian Independence in 1947. N. F. Suntook had served in the Indian Navy, then in the Indian Police Service and in the Indian Frontier Administration Service. Vikram Sood was from the Indian Postal Service (IPoS)and was later permanently absorbed in the RAS cadre. Now he acts as Advisor to Fair Observer. A. S. Dulat was an Indian Police Service officer deputed from the Intelligence Bureau. All the chiefs have been experts on China or Pakistan except for Ashok Chaturvedi, who was an expert on Nepal.


title: Research and Analysis Wing

text: Unlike in the Western cultural sphere, which has portrayed its foreign intelligence agencies (such as the CIA and MI6) in different media forms, Indian authors and actors have been shy to explore the area of espionage, especially R&AW, until the 1990s. Unlike CBI, the federal investigative agency of India, whose existence is known to the majority of people, R&AW receives little to no attention from the populace, which seems to be unaware of the existence of such an organisation or even India's internal intelligence agency, the Intelligence Bureau (IB). Excessive secrecy surrounding activities and rare declassification of the information is considered to be the major reasons behind this.


title: Research and Analysis Wing

text: Nevertheless, there were films which refer to 'agents' and 'espionage', like "Aankhen" (1968, Ramanand Sagar Production, starring Dharmendra, Mala Sinha), "Prem Pujari" starring Dev Anand in 1970, "Hindustan Ki Kasam" (starring Raaj Kumar, Priya Rajvansh in 1973) and "Highway" (starring Suresh Gopi, Bhanupriya) including some modern films such as "Romeo Akbar Walter" in 2019. However, since the late 1990s and early 2000 the following Bollywood and other regional films have openly mentioned R&AW and its allied units, with the intelligence agencies at the centre of the plot.


title: Research and Analysis Wing

text: The thriving entertainment channels in India have started to tap into the theme of Intelligence agencies. "2612" which used to air on Life OK, featured Cabir Maira as a R&AW agent Anand Swami who helps an STF officer Randeep Rathore to save the country from a terrorist attack. "Time Bomb 9/11", a series aired on Zee TV, featured Rajeev Khandelwal in the role of a R&AW field officer who attempts to defuse a nuclear bomb set in India, as well as saving the life of the Indian prime minister. Zee Bangla featured a serial named "Mohona" where the chief protagonist is a R&AW officer. "Sajda Tere Pyar Mein" a series on Star Plus, features Shaleen Bhanot in the role of a R&AW officer who asks a young woman named Aliya for help in catching a spy named Mahendra Pratap. The Indian version of "24" has a host of characters affiliated with R&AW. The 2018 web series "Sacred Games" has a R&AW agent played by Radhika Apte. Foreign films which have actors playing R&AW agents include Pakistan-based-films such as "Waar" (2013).


title: Research and Analysis Wing

text: Some academic commentators have linked the increasing surfeit of Indian films and TV series on espionage thriller genre, where an Indian hero staves off impending global catastrophe, as a marker of an aspirational "Pax Indica" not based on 'older paradigms of internationalism based on universal brotherhood and non-violent pacifism associated with Gandhi and Nehru' but on the motif of an increasingly assertive potential superpower.


title: Santa Fe, New Mexico

text: Santa Fe ( ; , Spanish for 'Holy Faith'; , Tewa for 'white shell water place'; ; , Navajo for 'bead + water place') is the capital of the U.S. state of New Mexico. The name “Santa Fe” means 'Holy Faith' in Spanish, and the city's full name as founded remains ('The Royal Town of the Holy Faith of Saint Francis of Assisi').


title: Santa Fe, New Mexico

text: With a population of 87,505 at the 2020 census, it is the fourth-largest city in New Mexico. It is also the county seat of Santa Fe County. Its metropolitan area is part of the Albuquerque–Santa Fe–Las Vegas combined statistical area, which had a population of 1,162,523 in 2020. Human settlement dates back thousands of years in the region, the placita was founded in 1610 as the capital of . It replaced the previous capital, , near modern Española, at San Gabriel de Yungue-Ouinge, which makes it the oldest state capital in the United States. It is also at the highest altitude of any of the U.S. state capitals, with an elevation of 7,199 feet (2,194 m).


title: Santa Fe, New Mexico

text: Santa Fe is widely considered one of the world's great art cities, due to its many art galleries and installations, and it is recognized by UNESCO's Creative Cities Network. Its cultural highlights include Santa Fe Plaza, the Palace of the Governors, the Fiesta de Santa Fe, numerous restaurants featuring distinctive New Mexican cuisine, and performances of New Mexico music. Among its many art galleries and installations are the Georgia O'Keeffe Museum, a gallery by cartoonist Chuck Jones, and newer art collectives such as Meow Wolf. The cityscape is known for its adobe-style Pueblo Revival and Territorial Revival architecture.