Secret Weapon of India's Foreign Policy
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Imagine this! There are two neighboring countries... These countries hate each other... For years, tensions have been building between these two countries. The first country, Green Country, loses to the second country, Red Country. So Green Country starts training a separatist group that fled from Red Country. The purpose of these separatists is to infiltrate Red Country and carry out secret operations. For years, Green Country has been planning similar tactics against Red Country.
Now I want to ask you a question. Who do you think are Green and Red Countries? Green is Pakistan and Red is India? I'm talking about India and China.
In 1959, India gave asylum to Dalai Lama. After that, tensions between India and China grew and war broke out in 1962. After the 1962 war, India created the 22 establishment, a group of Tibetan fighters secretly trained by the Indian army to undertake covert operations in China. This foreign policy strategy, where many countries train insurgents, has been used by many countries, including India.
In fact, you may not know this, but India has adopted this foreign policy strategy many times. A research paper was published on this recently. In this article, I want to tell you about this Indian secret foreign policy strategy.
This is Tibet. During the 1940s and 1950s, China made many attempts to gain control over Tibet. In 1951, China was successful in this. China believed that Tibet had been a part of the Chinese kingdom for centuries. Tibetans believed that Tibet was an independent country. Many countries, including India, didn't accept China's decision. Because India and Tibet had a strong connection for centuries, especially due to Buddhism.
Most Tibetans are Buddhists, and India is the holy land of Buddhism for them. Similarly, Mount Kailash and Lake Mansarovar in Tibet are very important in Hinduism. That's why when India criticized Chinese aggression against Tibet, China responded by saying, Mind your own business.
In fact, a year before the annexation of Tibet, the Tibetan government asked Prime Minister Nehru for military aid. But Nehru rejected this request. This is because a year earlier, the People's Republic of China had become an independent country. Nehru wanted India to have a good relationship with China. When India rejected Tibet's request in 1950,
why did India give protection to Dalai Lama nine years later?
India obviously wasn't happy about this. The Chinese army even started incursions in some areas of India. Rajiv Sikri, an officer in the Indian Foreign Service, said that China's attitude had become unfriendly.
To spread the anti-India agenda, China even intervened in Nepal. They tried to help a political leader who wanted to defeat the pro-India Nepali government.
In 1959, protests started in Tibet against China. These protests were led by Dalai Lama. But China struck down these protests mercilessly. Many monks were killed and China destroyed many monasteries. To save himself from the Chinese authorities, Dalai Lama sought help from India and Pandit Nehru offered asylum to Dalai Lama. Tensions escalated and ultimately,
in 1962, the Sino-Indian war broke out, which India lost. Pandit Nehru was given advice. The director of the Intelligence Bureau advised Pandit Nehru to create a Tibetan guerrilla force to fight against China on difficult Himalayan terrain. India then created a special force, the 22 Establishment. The first soldiers of this force were from Khampas,
the Kham region of Tibet, and the original bodyguards of Dalai Lama. They were trained by the Indian commando and CIA. Their mission was to create secret intelligence, special operations, and guerrilla warfare against China. Even today, the 22 Establishment is a secret force whose details are unknown to many Indian army officials.
The 22 Establishment is also known as the Special Frontier Force. It has helped the Indian army in many operations. For example, Operation Eagle in the 1971 Bangladesh War, Operation Blue Star in 1984 at the Golden Temple, Operation Meghdoot in 1984 at Siachen Glacier, and Operation Vijay in 1999 at Kargil.
Now the question is, why does any country support a rebel group? This research paper said that a country has two objectives: offensive goal or defensive goal. It's very simple to understand. An offensive goal is when you want to make a big change in a target country. For example, you want to change the government of a country.
A defensive goal is when another country is attacking you or can attack you, but you want to stop that. When the 22 Establishment was created, India aimed at the defensive goal. It wanted to stop any Chinese offensive in Arunachal Pradesh. As all diplomatic efforts were failing, India decided to support an insurgent group. In some cases, this goal can be offensive.
Let's go to Bangladesh. On 11 June 1989, a New York Times headline read, 'Bangladeshi insurgents say India is supporting them.' These insurgents were from an organization called Shanti Bahini, which was formed in 1972. These rebels were mostly Buddhists, who were from Chittagong Hills in Bangladesh, from the Chakma or other tribes. These tribes were considered to be ethnically and culturally different.
After 1947, they didn't want to be a part of East Pakistan. When Bangladesh was formed in 1971 with the help of India, these tribes didn't want to be a part of Bangladesh either. They said they were Buddhists. They feared that the Buddhist minority would have no rights in Muslim-majority Bangladesh.
They believe that after Bangladesh was formed, the Muslim-majority community removed these tribes from their land. As a result, they started demanding a separate country. When the Bangladesh government didn't accept their demands, these tribes used violence. They killed many Bangladeshi military personnel and police.
After this, the Bangladeshi military started a crackdown on them. When violence between the Bangladeshi security forces and Shanti Bahini fighters increased, many of these fighters fled to Tripura, where India trained these fighters.
But the question is, why did India want to help these people? India was the one who supported Bangladesh in 1971. So why would India support another insurgent group to form a new independent country? A spokesperson for Shanti Bahini said that India began helping them in 1976. Subir Bhaumik, a journalist and researcher, said that India started helping Shanti Bahini because of the military coup in Bangladesh that killed Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and his family members.
After Bangladesh became independent, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman was the first president of Bangladesh. He was believed to be a close friend of India. But four years after independence, the Bangladeshi military started a coup, killed the president, and ruled for the next 15 years. Reports show that the Bangladeshi military sought help from Pakistan's ISI for this coup and attack.
Subir Bhaumik said in his book that India's believed that it helped Bangladesh secure independence so that it could have a democracy. But the Bangladeshi military went against India's wishes. They removed democracy and killed the president. So supporting Shanti Bahini was a way for the Indian government to show the Bangladeshi military that it didn't agree with the latter's decision.
In his book, Bhaumik said that he had spoken to several Shanti Bahini guerrilla commanders and RAW officials to get this information. Subir wrote in his book that a week after the coup, several RAW senior leaders came to Agartala, the capital of Tripura, and gave clear instructions to their juniors: Bring the leaders of the Chakma tribe of Bangladesh who want to fight against the Bangladeshi military.
A Shanti Bahini leader said that Indian training was very difficult. Many of his Indian instructors were from the Nagaland and Mizoram military units. If they didn't train properly, the Indian trainers would scold them. India had two reasons to support Shanti Bahini.
First, to stop the persecution against the Chakma tribe. Second, to show the Bangladeshi military that they don't support a military coup. India's support for the Tibetan insurgent groups against China wasn't that private. But Shanti Bahini's support was very private. It's called a Covert operation.
Why? Experts call it deniability. This means that if Bangladeshi insurgents are caught, India can say we have nothing to do with them. This way, the international community won't put pressure on India. India also provided such covert support in Myanmar. This is the Kachin region of Myanmar, which is inhabited by the Kachins.
For years, these people have been discriminated against in Myanmar. The majority of the people in Myanmar are Bamars, who are Buddhists. While the Kachins are predominantly Christians. Before the arrival of the British, Myanmar was under the control of several different kings.
In 1890, several Christian missionaries went to a king to ask permission to educate the people of Kachin. The king replied, 'you want to teach these Kachin people?' Look at my dogs. It's easier to teach them than the Kachins. And when the British colonized Myanmar, the situation of the Kachins didn't improve.
In 1948, after Myanmar gained independence from the British, the Kachins were promised that they would be able to govern their own region. But that didn't happen. The military took over Myanmar. After that, the military turned authoritarian.
The Kachins were not given a share of the money in Myanmar, nor were they given a share of the governance. After that, the Kachin Independence Organization was established in the 1960s. This organization sought help from India several times, but India refused. But this changed in the 1980s when an informal friendship was formed between the RAW and the KIO.
In 1990, the KIO opened an office in New Delhi. They were given money, training, and political support. So why did India's attitude change towards the KIO? After independence, several separatist movements started in the northeastern states of India. Be it Assam, Nagaland, or Manipur. We've made videos on Nagaland and Manipur,
which you can watch after this article. A few of these insurgents operated from Bangladesh and Myanmar. At that time, India's relations with Myanmar were not good. Because India had democracy, Myanmar had a military rule. Myanmar's military refused to help India in curbing these insurgent groups. So India adopted a different strategy. Instead of asking Myanmar military's help,
why not ask for help from the KIO? After that, the KIO gave intelligence to India about the drug business and weapons of the rebels in the northeastern states. Because of India's request, the KIO didn't allow the Assamese and Naga insurgents to enter Myanmar. In response, India helped the KIO. And it had one message: Myanmar's military should not help Indian insurgents. India has helped several foreign insurgent groups.
But India's strategy was not the same every time. This is Shanmugam Kumaran Tharmalingam, who was the head of the LTTE. He became the head when the founder of the LTTE, Prabhakaran, was killed.
["In 2009, Sri Lanka's army claimed to have killed LTTE chief Prabhakaran."] LTTE was a separatist group formed in Sri Lanka in 1976. It wanted Sri Lankan Tamils to have a separate country. In the 1980s, many LTTE militants set up their camps in Tamil Nadu. They were given weapons, which were then transported to Sri Lanka The Sri Lankan government tried to stop the Indian government
several times. But the government didn't listen. In fact, many retired Indian army officials trained the LTTE fighters. Why?
In 1983, riots broke out between Sri Lanka's Tamil minority and the Sinhalese majority There were reports that the Tamils were tortured. Obviously, there are many Tamils in India. They came to support the Sri Lankan Tamils. The political parties of Tamil Nadu, AIADMK, and DMK, put pressure on the Indian government to take an aggressive stance against Sri Lanka.
But India was afraid that the tensions would escalate in India and create violence. The Indian government initially decided not to get involved in the matter. But soon, the Sri Lankan government sought the help of the Pakistani This changed the Indian government's stance. It started supporting five major Tamil insurgent groups in Sri Lanka. One of them was the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, or LTTE. Research has shown that many countries don't want their minority to go against the government because they refuse to support a group in another country.
The Indian government didn't want the Indian Tamils to go against it. That's why they decided to support the Sri Lankan Tamils. The fear of Indian government that this action would attract violence in India turned out to be true when Rajiv Gandhi was assassinated. We've made a detailed video on this topic.
Many times, rebel groups are supported because of interstate rivalry. This is Kulbhushan Yadav, a former Indian naval officer who is on death row in Pakistan. He's been accused of being an Indian spy who was working in Balochistan. Balochistan is Pakistan's largest province, which is near the Afghanistan border. This is where 40% of Pakistan's gas production takes place. This is why this region is vital for Pakistan's geopolitics and economy.
In 1947, when India and Pakistan gained independence, Balochistan was a princely state called Kalat. Like other princely states, it could either remain independent or join India or Pakistan. But Kalat wanted to remain independent.
But in 1947, the Pakistani army forced the leader of Kalat to sign the Instrument of Accession. This was unacceptable for the people of Balochistan. That's why they protested against Pakistan. Even today, many Baloch insurgents are protesting against the Pakistani government. Pakistan has claimed that India supports these insurgents. Ayesha Siddiqa, a Pakistani military expert, said that RAW has two secret groups:
Counter Intelligence Team X and Counter Intelligence Team J. Both were formed in the 1980s. They carry out terrorist operations in Pakistan. A RAW operator, B. Raman, also talked about these groups. But Pakistan has yet to present any solid evidence to prove that India has carried out terrorist activities in Pakistan. B. Raman said that India has used covert groups to stop ISI's intervention in Punjab.
These were some examples of India's secret foreign policy. But this foreign policy can have a negative consequence. We've already seen this in the case of Sri Lanka. But I want to share another example with you that you may not be aware of. This is Rakhine State, which is on the western coast of Myanmar. Every year on 11th February, Rakhine State celebrates General Khaing Raza Day. It's also known as the Betrayal of India over Rakhine Revolutionary Day.
In simple words: India's betrayal. This is because in 1998, the Indian military launched a horrific operation called Operation Leech. In this operation, India raided an island in the Andaman Sea, Land Fall Island, where it killed six people from a rebel group that was fighting against the Myanmar government. This group was called the Arakan Army. And one of the six killed was General Khaing Raza, the commander of the Arakan Army.
Myanmar's history is very complicated. . The dominant group in Myanmar is the Bamar group. Whereas in Rakhine, there are people of a different ethnicity. They want more autonomy from the Myanmar government. As they didn't get any autonomy, they formed an army called the Arakan Army. General Khaing Raza formed this army in February 1991.
He also established good relations with the RAW of India. A member of the Arakan Army said that they received support from the RAW many times. In return, the army helped India. For example, it spied on Chinese naval activity.
In 1994, the Arakan Army joined forces with other rebel groups. They formed the National United Party of Arakan. After this, India's relations with the Arakan Army improved. Eventually, the RAW officers decided to introduce Khaing Raza with other Indian military commanders and intelligence officers.
In 1997, the Arakan Army set up a base in the Andaman Sea to create a safe haven. An Indian officer, Colonel V.S. Grewal, allowed them to build a base on Land Fall Island. This island was 300 km away from the coast of Myanmar. It was decided that on February 11, 1998, the Arakan Army would shift its base on that island. The army officers went there on February 10, and slept there that night. They spent the night on that island.
The next day, Khaing Raza and five other commanders went to the island's interior because they had a meeting with a top Indian military commander. They were supposed to get help from India against the Myanmar government. But that didn't happen the next day. Gunshots were heard and it was found that the Indian army killed all the people under Operation Leech.
The Indian military informed the government that six people were killed due to Operation Leech who were helping the anti-India separatists. A journalist from Myanmar claimed that the relationship between India and Myanmar was not good. This changed in the 1990s. An Indian military intelligence officer told a journalist from Myanmar that Colonel V.S. Grewal had set up a deal with the Myanmar army
where the Myanmar army would chase away the anti-India insurgents and India would help the Myanmar military to kill the rebels of the anti-Myanmar military. The journalist said that the Indian military betrayed the commanders of the Arkan army. Because of Operation Leech, India was accused of violating human rights. Former intelligence officer DB Nandi said in a news report that these people were not against India, but were killed nevertheless.
Supporting insurgents in other countries is not a new trend. And India is not the only country that does this. We've already talked about the consequences. Insurgent groups are usually supported when two governments don't want to work together. But this doesn't happen every time. Now you must be wondering, if India supports insurgent groups, what's the difference between India and Pakistan? Pakistan can also say that it supports insurgent groups in India.
But there's a difference between the two. Many international security experts have said that India supports insurgent groups for strategic interests. Like reducing China's influence, or stopping a refugee spillover in its own country. Whereas Pakistan's insurgent support is a regular part of its foreign policy. India's insurgent support has been a reactive policy to ensure that India's national security is not at risk. Whereas Pakistan has been called a revisionist power by many national security experts.
Many national security experts say that India is not a revisionist power. This means that India doesn't want to see borders between India and Pakistan change. Even if India's official stance is that it wants to reclaim the POK. But India is not actively supporting any group to change the Indian map.
Whereas Pakistan is a revisionist power that wants Jammu and Kashmir to become a part of Pakistan. And that's why it supports many terrorist groups. This picture is from the India-Bhutan Treaty of Friendship. The treaty provides a provision that no government will allow its land to be used for activities that will harm the national security of other countries.
Why was this provision added?
Because many ULFA militants, who were spreading militancy in Assam, were using Bhutan's land. That's why in 2003, the Royal Bhutan Army launched Operation All Clear to remove all ULFA militants. The Indian Army helped the Bhutanese Army with logistics and intelligence. This shows that supporting insurgent groups is not the only tactic.