By Rohan Gunaratna

The first Indian NSA I met was R. N. Kao, who established India’s foreign intelligence service, the Research and Analysis Wing (RAW). As the then research assistant to President Jayewardene, I visited Delhi and met Mr Kao at his residence in Vasant Vihar.

Mr Kao explained India’s geopolitical compulsions that I delineated in “Indian Intervention in Sri Lanka: The Role of India’s Intelligence Agencies.” A Kashmiri Pandit who bifurcated East Pakistan, Kao explained why India armed, trained, financed and directed the LTTE and five other terrorist groups.

After Sri Lanka opened its economy in 1977, Kao said Sri Lanka had stepped out of the Non-Aligned orbit. While India was within the Soviet sphere of influence, Kao said Sri Lanka posed an existential threat to India when Colombo offered Trincomalee to the US, VOA eavesdropped into India, and Sri Lanka built close ties to Israel, South Africa, Pakistan and China, countries considered inimical to Indian interests.

These extraordinary leaders secured their nations both from internal and external threats. For any nation to survive, sustain and thrive, it’s leaders must select and appoint the best and brightest men and women to helm its national security institutions. The security forged by these practitioners gave India lasting social harmony, political stability, and economic prosperity.

If not for Kao’s contribution to India’s formidable RAW, South Asia’s geography, economy and politics would have looked very different!

The following article by Jathindra Ariyapala on disaster relief efforts in Sri Lanka following Cyclone Ditwah, displays for the first time, both Indian and American troops actively engaged in rescue and relief operations on Sri Lankan soil.

Read the full article here: https://www.southasiamonitor.org/spotlight/inescapable-grip-foreign-influence-sri-lanka