Indian Intelligence Agencies

1. Research and Analysis Wing (RAW)

The Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) is India's external intelligence agency. It is headed by the Prime Minister of India and is responsible for foreign intelligence collection, counterterrorism, counterproliferation, advising Indian policymakers, and advancing India's foreign strategic interests.RAW is also involved in the security of India's nuclear program.

RAW arose in the aftermath of the 1962 India-China War and the 1965 Indo-Pakistani War. Initially, RAW used to appoint only personnel from the Intelligence Bureau, the Indian Police Service, and the Indian military or revenue departments. The central government under Indira Gandhi saw the need for a second security service in India and formed a full-fledged Research and Analysis Wing (RAW). The agency was organized along the lines of the CIA.

The head of RAW served as Secretary (Research) in the Cabinet Secretariat. It is responsible only to the Prime Minister and the Joint Intelligence Committee. It is not accountable to the Indian Parliament on any issue, and the same provision exempts it from the Right to Information (RTI) Act. It monitors political and military developments in neighboring countries, which are directly related to India's national security and the origins of its foreign policy.

2. The Intelligence Bureau (IB)

The Intelligence Bureau (IB) is India's domestic internal security and counter-intelligence agency. The agency is under the aegis of the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA).

The agency was established as the Central Special Branch and renamed as the Intelligence Bureau after India's independence. It is reputed to be the oldest such organization in the world.

The Intelligence Bureau is under the authoritative control of the Ministry of Home Affairs. The Director IB (DIB), who is a member of the Joint Intelligence Committee (JIC), is the chief of Intelligence Bureau. It is considered to be the internal information agency responsible for overseeing all aspects of governance. It is responsible for counter-intelligence terrorism. The DIB closely monitors developments related to parliamentary affairs and reports to the Cabinet Secretariat. The Special Enquiry and Surveillance Unit (SES) of the Intelligence Bureau is responsible for most of the work.

3. Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI)

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) is the principal police investigative agency in India. It was established in 1941 as a special police department for internal security.

Initially set up to investigate bribery and government corruption, the CBI was expanded in 1965 to investigate violations of central laws enforced by the GOI, multi-state organized crime, multi-agency or international cases. It plays a role in protecting the country's economy, and it works under the Ministry of Personnel and Training.

It is an elite force that plays an integral role in public life and is a guarantor of the health of the national economy. It operates under the Ministry of Personnel, Pensions and Public Grievances and is the principal police agency in India, coordinating investigations on behalf of Interpol member countries. It is also responsible for compiling criminal intelligence related to its three main areas of operation - anti-corruption, economic crimes and special crimes. It can examine:

· Cases fundamentally opposed to central government employees or involving central government undertakings

· Situations involving central monetary interests.

· Instances of cheating, fraud, deception, misappropriation of public funds in connection with companies containing large sums of money, and similarly diverse situations committed by organized groups or expert miscreants, which have had an impact in a number of countries.

· Cases have interstate and international implications, including some official agencies.

· Cases related to the breakdown of central law that is of major concern to the Indian government.

MAC is a multi-agency centre for Counter-Terrorism established during the Kargil war with a mandate to share terrorism-related information on a daily basis. It was created at Delhi and Subsidiary, Multi-Agency Centers (SMACs) in different states comprising representatives from various security agencies, for streamlining intelligence efforts.