Mission Victory India spoke to RK Yadav, a former officer of the Research and Analysis Wing, India’s premier external intelligence agency and the author of books Mission R&AW and Nuclear Bomb in Ganga about his latest literary work.
When asked about his shadowy life in India’s external intelligence and what piqued his interest towards penning down his experiences, the veteran intelligence officer deftly evaded the first part of the question and instead responded by saying, “After my stint in R&AW I thought it pertinent to write some inside accounts and facts about the agency which would make our younger generation knowledgeable about intelligence. This would make them curious enough to consider joining this elite intelligence organisation. These books are exclusive without [the need for] any other corroboration.”
Explaining what sets his books apart from other public accounts in the media and literary spaces and the research which went in the books, Yadav said, “Both these books provide authentic insights into the inner workings of the intelligence world particularly, the book ‘Mission R&AW’, this is something which no agency outsiders could shed light on. Some other authors who wrote books on R&AW have their facts either sourced from media accounts or pure guesswork with imaginary narrations.”
“I don’t need any sources on these books because what I wrote are factual accounts from R&AW. Could anyone know about facts of all chiefs who served there? In the latest edition of Mission R&AW I gave some details about Ajit Doval as National Security Advisor which are exclusive,” he reiterated.
Upon being asked about what other books he would recommend to young intelligence officer’s, journalists, academics and even casual observers inorder to gain some insight into the world of espionage, the former spy said, “I would recommend books written by former Intelligence Bureau officer MK Dhar about the functioning of IB. Although even he was totally unaware about R&AW's inner workings.”
When asked if he believed that retired intelligence officers should be encouraged to write about their service experiences or share their professional views in the form of a book or in the media as commonly seen in western countries, the retired R&AW officer opined, “henceforth no retired intelligence officer would write because the government issued orders to stop their pension. If one can risk that he can write, then.”
You can follow RK Yadav on Twitter @RKYadavExRAW and check out his latest book by clicking on this link
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