2024-08-02 04:53:38
Tel Aviv: Israel’s intelligence agency Mossad has proved its capability many times. It is once again in the news after the assassination of Hamas’ political chief Ismail Haniyeh in Iran’s capital Tehran. But do you know that Mossad has an old relationship with India. India’s intelligence agency Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) has been Mossad’s secret partner for decades. Israel was created about a year after India’s independence, but there was no long-term relationship between the two. Although India recognized Israel as a country in 1950, diplomatic relations between the two began in 1992. This meant that for the outside world, the two were not in contact with each other, but in reality it was not so at all. In 1968, India created its own intelligence agency, named Research and Analysis Wing i.e. RAW. The then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi authorized RAW chief RN Kao to establish relations with Israel’s Mossad. In the early years, RAW and Mossad worked on Pakistan, China and North Korea. Around the 1970s, Pakistan’s nuclear programme became the main focus of RAW and Mossad.
Pakistan was scared of the friendship between RAW and Mossad
The result of the coming together of RAW and Mossad was that Pakistan began to fear a joint attack by India and Israel on its Kahuta nuclear facility. In 1981, Israel had destroyed an Iraqi nuclear facility in a similar attack. In 1986, Indian and Israeli officials met in Paris to discuss the nuclear threat from Pakistan. However, the attack was never carried out.
RAW and Mossad also worked together on counter-terrorism operations. In 1987, RAW chief AK Verma visited Israel, where he sought technical help to deal with the explosive devices of terrorist groups. Israel provided that technology to India, while the US and Britain refused to give it. After the assassination of Indira Gandhi in 1984, RAW sent its officers to Israel to receive security training.
He also supported during Kargil war
After Rajiv Gandhi took over the reins of the country in the late 1980s, relations with Israel were given a new direction. The hostility between Israel and India was reduced. Boycotts in sports events were ended and work was done towards normalizing relations. In 1992, India established formal relations with Israel. During the Kargil war in 1999, Israel helped the Indian Army by providing guided ammunition and drones and other military supplies and equipment. During this time, India tapped Pervez Musharraf’s phone calls. Pakistanis still say that Mossad helped India in this work.