Research & Analysis Wing

The Research & Analysis Wing (R&AW) is the foreign intelligence agency of the Government of India. It is responsible for the collection, processing and assessment of intelligence outside India's borders deemed vital for the advancement of the country's national security interests. A key member of the Indian Intelligence Community, R&AW's mandate includes surveillance of foreign politico-military developments that directly affect India's foreign policy, counterproliferation and counterterrorism. Administratively, R&AW is not an agency in essence, but rather functions as a wing of the Cabinet Secretariat, albeit with autonomy from bureaucratic control. Its chief officer – designated as Secretary (Research), works under the Cabinet Secretary and cooperates with the National Security Advisor to report to the Prime Minister on all intelligence-related concerns. Functionally, R&AW manages its own specialized service cadre – the Research and Analysis Service (RAS), although its core leadership is generally drawn from the Indian Police Service (IPS). Unlike other international contemporaries, R&AW is a creation of executive order, which has allowed it to operate without answerability to Parliament. Despite lacking a codified charter, R&AW's norms of conduct are drawn from the Intelligence Organisations (Restriction of Rights) Act, 1985. Historically, little verifiable information exists about R&AW's functioning; nevertheless, some of its known operations include espionage during the Indo-Pakistani conflict of 1971, assisting in the annexation of Sikkim in 1975, and reconnaissance of Pakistan's nuclear programme in the 1980s. Presently, R&AW's current Secretary (Research) is Parag Jain, who took office on 1 July 2025.