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Full form of RAW is Research and Analysis Wing. It is the main international intelligence agency of India. Formed in September 1968 under the guidance of Rameshwar Nath Kao (first Director of RAW), it was created after the Indo-China War(1962) and the Indo-Pak War(1965). The head office of RAW is in New Delhi, India and it is not personally answerable to the prime minister.
The key reason for the formation of RAW was the poor performance of India’s intelligence committee in the battles of 1962 and 1965. The current Director of RAW is Samant Kumar Goel (1984 IPS batch) who took office on June 26, 2019.
Objectives of RAW agency
- Collects foreign intelligence.
- Encourages counter growth.
- Participate in counterterrorism actively.
- Guides the decision-makers of India.
- Develops international strategic interests of India.
History of RAW
- Formed in September 1968 under Rameshwar Nath Kao after the poor performance of the Intelligence office in the battles against China and Pakistan.
- It first started as a branch of the Chief intelligence service and with a staff of 250 people and an annual budget of about 20 million.
- The annual budget of RAW rose to about 300 million in the early seventies and its staff and workforce increased to a few thousand.
- The GoI established Aviation Research Center (ARC) in 1971 after the persuasion of Kao.
- The introduction of Radio Research Center and Electronics & Technology facilities was made to RAW in 1970 and 1990 respectively.
- In 2004 RAW received National Technical Facilities Organization (NTFO) currently called NTRO, another signal intelligence service.
- The Joint Intelligence Committee, under the Cabinet Secretariat, bridges, evaluates, and reviews the intelligence activities between RAW, the Intelligence agency, and the Defense Intelligence Agency(DIA).