26/11 repeat will be fatal for Pak: Ex-RAW chief

He was speaking at the launch of Nitin Gokhale’s book RN Kao, Gentleman Spymaster. RN Kao, was founder of RAW, India’s external spy agency. Army Chief General Bipin Rawat released the book.

On being asked what should be the method of declassification, Sood said we need not follow the US model.

He argued that papers can be declassified after 40 or 50 years. However bright the civil services may be, they cannot have domain experts like cyber. We need to catch people early, take the example of Army. We need persons who can join after school. Gokhale said the book gives details of the times of the 1960's and 1970’s when it was just Pakistan and China and there was no such thing as cyber or terrorism.

On political leadership understanding the work of spies, Sood reminded that in 1977 when Indira Gandhi lost elections, the new Prime Minister (Morarji Desai) had his own ideas on intelligence. Recruitment to RAW was stopped till 1983. The best arrangement is when intelligence chief has direct access to the Prime Minister. Gokhale said Kao and Gandhi had good relationship. Unnithan asked Gokhale if things attitudes within the agency which frowned after B Raman (former senior RAW official) wrote his book Kao boys of RAW.

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