Intelligence: May 27, 2001

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India, faced with continuing terrorism in Kashmir and within India itself, has reorganized it's intelligence agencies. Military intelligence will now be supervised by the Defense Intelligence Agency. Internal intelligence gathering will continue to be done by an expanded Intelligence Bureau (IB). The IB is 150 years old, a British colonial institution taken over by Indians 54 years ago when the nation achieved independence. But for a long time it devoted most of it's efforts to battling election fraud and dirty politics. The Research and Analysis Wing, which deals with external intelligence (like the US CIA) is to be given more resources, authority and focus. The reform effort was set off by the 11 week Kargil War in Kashmir during early 1999. Pakistani commandoes and Kashmiri rebels caught the Indian army off guard, taking possession of several mountain peaks in Kashmir. Indian intelligence failed to see this coming, as it had failed in several earlier incidents. The current reforms have been in the works for the last two years as a result.